FC Barcelona’s president, Joan Laporta might fire Xavi Hernandez at the end of the season. Laporta might be forced to make this decision because of Xavi’s statement ahead of their match against Almeria which ended in 2-0 in favour of Barça.
Daily Stand Nigeria reports that the situation in Barcelona has drastically changed recently. A few weeks ago, Laporta confirmed that Xavi would stay for the next season. Now, Laporta is about to dismiss Xavi before the season starts. Some board members doubted the decision to keep Xavi. They even advised Laporta to accept Xavi’s earlier intention to leave.
What Happened?
According to multiple sources, Laporta was furious with Xavi for two of the statements that he made ahead of the game, feeling that Xavi had gone back on the agreements they had come to during the meeting to discuss his future. One of those was to show confidence in the current squad, but when Xavi was asked whether Barcelona could compete with the current answer, there was an element of doubt in his response, albeit reality for others.
“We are going to try to compete against Madrid. I think that the cule must understand that the situation is very difficult. Above all, on an economic level. We have an economic situation that has nothing to do with 25 years ago, we can no longer go out and pick and say ‘I want this one, this one, and that one.’ We are not in the same conditions than other clubs with very advantageous economic situations.”
“The Barcelona fans have to understand it. That does not mean that we do not want to compete, but that is Barca’s situation at the moment. We need stability and time, but we will try to compete.”
Equally, Xavi revealed some of the uncertainty behind the scenes at Barcelona regarding the arrival of Vitor Roque, whose lack of game time has become a hot-button topic in Catalonia, with the Brazilian’s future in the air.
“That’s how we planned it. We hadn’t planned for him coming so soon, we planned it for the summer, so he could continue learning as a player. Then we decided it was for the best for the club and for him, we had the chance to bring him in because of the injuries to Gavi and Balde, so that he could train, get to know the club and his teammates, and then compete with his teammates.”
“The debate, for me, I don’t understand it. He is learning. There are footballers ahead of him, who are in better conditions, and that is why he plays less. These things have happened all my life.”
Xavi will likely be officially sacked after the match against Rayo Vallecano according to multiple sources. Laporta sees no other solution or future cooperation with Xavi.
One candidate to replace Xavi is Sergio Conceicao. Deco has gone to Portugal to discuss a possible club change with the FC Porto coach.
