Xavi completes his emotional return to Barcelona after being confirmed as the club’s new head coach
The legendary Xavi has been drafted back into the fold to take charge of the club he left as a player in 2015 following 17 years of extraordinary success, after Barca fought to take him from Qatari club Al-Sadd.
He takes over the job last held by Ronald Koeman, who was relieved of his duties last week following Barca’s abject defeat to minnows Rayo Vallecano, which left the Catalan giants sitting miserably in ninth place in the league.
It remains to be seen whether Xavi will be in charge for Saturday’s LaLiga clash against Celta Vigo, with his first game more likely to be after the international break in the derby against Espanyol on November 20.
Xavi has been honing his coaching skills in the Middle East for the last two years, all the while appearing to be groomed as a future Barca boss – and the job he was always destined for is now his, albeit in difficult circumstances.
Following Koeman’s dismissal, Barca moved swiftly to install Barca B manager Sergi Barjuan – who played 382 times for Barca in the 1990s and early 2000s – as interim boss.
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Xavi takes over after two heartening results following Koeman’s departure, a 3-1 win over Valencia and a 1-0 Champions League victory against Dynamo Kiev, but the scale of his task is enormous, especially for a rookie manager.
Barca will hope that Xavi can follow in the footsteps of another club legend turned rookie boss who they entrusted with the reins in the recent past, Pep Guardiola.
Al-Sadd had put up a fight to keep Xavi, who has won the league title in Qatar as a coach, as well as six cup competitions in just two seasons but Xavi made a public plea to the club to allow him to fulfil his dream of managing his boyhood club.
‘I’ve been talking to Barca for days, it’s done,’ Xavi said earlier this week.
‘But now it depends on the conversations between clubs, they need to reach an agreement. Barca is coming to talk, we are all eager and excited. We’ll see if it ends up being done.
‘I really want to go home. I hope it happens. I have a contract and now the clubs have to negotiate. They already know my position.’
Barca were working around the clock in the past few days to get a deal over the line, and went as far as sending a delegation to Qatar to smooth over the arrangements.
Xavi appeared to say his farewell following Al-Sadd’s 3-3 draw against Al-Duhail in the Qatar Stars League on Wednesday, as he shook all of his players’ hands after the final whistle.
The club legend won eight La Liga titles and the Champions League four times as a player at the Nou Camp – as well as the 2010 World Cup and two European Championships with Spain – before ending his career with Al-Sadd.
