Barcelona to hold key meeting with Xavi next week to seek clarity over future | OneFootball

As the fallout from FC Barcelona’s UEFA Champions League exit at the hands of PSG continues, the club are now starting to think about the future of the team and who will be leading the project next season.

Xavi Hernandez announced in January that he will leave at the end of the season. Despite that, following a turnaround in form and results, Joan Laporta & co. made it a mission to try and convince him to continue.

However, the defeat against PSG and the UCL exit seem to all but guarantee that Xavi will not be changing his mind.

Key meeting next week

Despite that, it appears that Barcelona are keen on making one last attempt to try and convince Xavi to stay on as manager.

Indeed, as per Mundo Deportivo, the Blaugrana will hold a crucial meeting with the club legend next week, after Sunday’s El Clasico, to seek clarity of his future and see whether there is any possibility of him continuing.

The heavyweights of the club, president Joan Laporta, vice-president of sport Rafa Yuste and sporting director Deco, will attend the meeting with Xavi.

Will Xavi stay or leave? (Photo by JOSEP LAGO/AFP via Getty Images)

Xavi signed a new contract last year until 2025 with an option to extend it until 2026.

And after the team’s reaction over the last two months, Laporta has not stopped insisting that he would like Xavi to continue at the helm of a team where youngsters such as Pau Cubarsí, Lamine Yamal and even Hèctor Fort have emerged.

Xavi has been reluctant to change his mind about the decision, but might have left the door open for his continuity after the PSG game, when he said: “The important thing is not me but the club.”

Barcelona cannot wait any longer

Barcelona, on the verge of entering the last week of April, no longer want to wait around. They have done so because Xavi deserves it for being a club legend, but in this upcoming meeting, they want to make everything clear.

If the man from Terrassa does not feel like continuing, he will be congratulated again for his work, but the way would be clear to start planning the future with Barça Atletic boss Rafa Márquez best placed to take over.

In the event that Xavi has regained his enthusiasm to continue one more season on the Barça bench and so verbalises it, there will be no loose ends left untied.

That is why the club would like to hear under what conditions the coach would stay and whether these would be acceptable to them, given the delicate financial situation, which will almost certainly not allow for major investments this summer.