Barcelona president Joan Laporta wants Xavi to reconsider his choice to leave the club at the end of the season and won’t consider any replacements until the former midfielder makes his “final decision”.
In late January, Xavi announced his intention to leave the Blaugrana in the aftermath of a chastening 5-3 defeat to Villarreal, which left them 10 points adrift of Real Madrid at the top of LaLiga.
However, Barca have since enjoyed an upturn and are now unbeaten in 10 games across all competitions, with a Champions League quarter-final tie with Paris Saint-Germain on the horizon.
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The Catalan giants remain eight points adrift of league leaders Madrid, though they face Los Blancos next month, giving them the chance to close the gap and reignite the title race.
The likes of Mikel Arteta, Thomas Tuchel and Hansi Flick have all been linked with the Barcelona job, but Laporta says he is yet to receive official confirmation of Xavi’s departure and will not begin the search for a successor until that arrives.
“He already knows I’d like him to stay,” Laporta said of Xavi in an interview with Mundo Deportivo.
“He keeps saying he’ll leave in June, but we’ll see. We don’t want to put this pressure on ourselves to make a decision for ourselves because the way things are going is working for us now.
🚨 𝐗𝐚𝐯𝐢, nominated for La Liga 𝐂𝐎𝐀𝐂𝐇 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐇 for March! 💪 pic.twitter.com/kA01UbYvm8
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) March 21, 2024
“Any coach who comes will need to adapt to our structure. Barca is above managers, players, presidents or executives. Everyone.
“We have created a successful model and the manager will need to adapt.
“Whoever might come, will need to wait until the end of the season because we are not touching anything until Xavi makes his final decision.”
Barcelona face Las Palmas in their next league game after the international break before going to the Parc des Princes for the first leg of their Champions League tie with PSG on April 10.
Should the Blaugrana progress through that tie, they will face either Borussia Dortmund or Atletico Madrid – who they thrashed 3-0 in their last match – for a place in the final at Wembley Stadium.
