Xavi sack? ‘Angry’ Barcelona chief Laporta ‘orders replacement’ as expert reveals ‘favourite to take over’
According to reports, FC Barcelona are ‘considering sacking’ head coach Xavi as his recent comments have ‘angered’ board members.
Club legend Xavi has been Barcelona’s head coach since the end of 2021. His first full season was successful as he helped them win La Liga and the Supercopa de Espana in 2022/23.
This season has been more difficult, though. They are 14 points adrift of table-toppers Real Madrid as they have missed out on the title.
Barcelona will also finish this season without a trophy and Xavi announced in January that he would step down at the end of this season.
However, Xavi’s situation recently changed as club president Joan Laporta talked the 44-year-old into performing a U-turn.
‘Angry’ Barcelona to sack Xavi after all?
Yet according to Spanish football expert Guillem Balague in a report for BBC Sport, Barcelona are ‘considering sacking’ Xavi in the aftermath of their 2-0 win over Almeria on Wednesday night.
Speaking post-match, Xavi admitted it will be “difficult” for Barcelona to “compete with Real Madrid” and other elite European clubs from a financial perspective.
I think that Barca fans need to understand that the situation is really difficult, especially economically, to compete with Real Madrid in Spain and others in Europe,” he said.
“We will adapt to this. It doesn’t mean that we don’t want to fight to compete and fight for trophies. It is the situation for Barcelona at this time. We need stability and time.”
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Explaining why Xavi could still end up departing Barcelona, Balague explained.
‘Comments by Xavi in a recent news conference appear to have angered the club’s board, who now feel the former Spain midfielder should depart.
‘Barcelona B team manager Rafael Marquez is favourite to take over as manager.’
According to reports in Spain, Laporta has ‘ordered a replacement’ for Xavi with former Bayern Munich and Germany boss Hansi Flick in line to replace him at Barcelona.
‘If Xavi ends up jumping and leaving the main bench seat at the new Camp Nou an orphan, Barça will reopen the casting of the next coach who has been on the front pages of the Catalan newspapers for so many weeks.
‘The option that automatically comes to mind again is Hansi Flick since the German was the name most associated with Barça before it was decided to bet on the ex-Blaugrana midfielder again.
‘Even, some media went as far as to assure that there had already been contacts between Joan Laporta and Flick so that the former Teutonic coach would take over the reins of the Spanish team from next season.’
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