The drama never stops in Barcelona. Hardly any club, let alone one of the biggest in the world, can persuade his coach, who is the club’s legend, by the way, to revoke his resignation, only to sack him 20 days afterwards. Xavi Hernandez gave 2.5 million euros from his own pocket in order to cut his contract with Al Saad when he was about to take over Barcelona. He won the title in his second year, he promoted many young players from La Macia to the first team, and yet all that was not enough. In the end, he even helped the man who sacked him. Xavi decided not to demand the full compensation package from his club, knowing their financial situation, and only took the 2.5 million which he paid to Al Saad! With the remaining money (8.5 million), Joan Laporta will be able to pay wages to the new coach Hansi Flick and his entire staff. So far, he’s been keen to avoid talking about the reasons why he sacked the man he begged to continue at Camp Nou, but the Barcelona-based press had their version. They are also pointing out that Xavi had more points in his three seasons in Barca than coaches in Laporta’s first mandate at Camp Nou. Not to mention the number of goals his young players scored. For example, only Fermin (not in the starting 11) scored 11 goals this season. Kroos 1 + Valverde 3 + Modric 2 + Camavinga 0 + Tchouámeni 3 = 9 goals.🚨 Xavi and Barcelona have agreed on the contract termination. He had one more year on his deal but he didn’t ask for compensation.Xavi will only get the €2.5m he paid from his own money to leave Al-Sadd. (Source: @FabrizioRomano) pic.twitter.com/hSPGggEteM— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) May 28, 2024 Always good informed Mundo Deportivo gave an insight what happened from the moment Laporta announced Xavi was staying to the moment he sacked him. First of all, the coach spoke about Barca’s financial situation for the next season, which irritated the president even though everybody already knew the situation and what’s worse, both Laporta and sporting director Deco also spoke about it. Then, the unpleasant defeat from Girona (4-2) happened, and against Real Sociedad, one part of the stadium started to shout, “Barça yes, Laporta no”.Xavi’s farewell message and a tip to Flick: You will suffer, this is a complicated placeAfter agreeing to stay at Barca, Xavi had a meeting in Laporta’s house with Deco, and both men, as previously agreed, made a list for next season in order to present it to the president. At the dinner, only one name was mentioned: Robert Lewandowski. The coach warned of the possibility of a physical decline due to the player’s age and even considered that, in order to press and run, perhaps a change would be in order. That night there was no talk of more players. Neither did they promise signings to Xavi, nor, apparently, did he demand them. Of course, the next day Lewandowski found out what his coach had said at dinner.Xavi stoically fighting tears: It’s been a tricky time but I’m leaving with a clear conscienceThen it was time for the ‘unwanted list’. Xavi named Oriol Romeu, Marcos Alonso or Joao Félix as the players he doesn’t count on and mentioned that Vitor Roque should go on loan. Also, he agreed with Deco that if there is a situation when they need to sell some first-team players, Raphinha should be considered. And also, just in great need, if there is a possibility that Nico Williams or Kimmich should become available, maybe, just maybe Araujo should be on the transfer list, since he would command a high fee. Needless to say that this list was given to the players without Xavi’s knowledge, and without a proper explanation. Mundo Deportivo wrote that Xavi’s long-term friend Alejandro Echevarría was the one who leaked the list, betraying the coach and causing a friction among him and the players. According to Mundo Deportivo, Xavi clarified the situation to the players. And, before everyone, he gave them a very clear example to show them that he always stood up. He reminded them when he had to tell two friends, like Piqué and Jordi Alba, that he no longer counted on them. He assured them that, when he had to communicate something to them, he would always do it face to face. But it was too late by then.Barcelona officially announce Flick instead of XaviLaporta was already annoyed and talks with Hansi Flick started. Xavi saw the reports in the media and Laporta did not have the time to meet him, so he called agent Pini Zahavi directly to find out first-hand if the rumors about Flick were true.##NAJAVA_MECA_8130310##”Xavi, you are intelligent, you already know the answer” the super-agent replied. When they met on May 24 it was already done and Laporta told Xavi in front of the board members that he will be sacked. When the coach asked for explanation why, he replied that Xavi did not trust his squad and that he wanted to make too many changes. The former Barca captain left gracefully but Laporta still has some explaining to do. Now or later.
