Barcelona President Joan Laporta to sack Xavi Hernandez 23 days after U-turn on future | OneFootball

Barcelona President Joan Laporta has decided to sack manager Xavi Hernandez at the end of the season, according to multiple reports coming out of Spain.

On Wednesday evening – while Barcelona were playing Almeria – it emerged that Xavi’s comments in his pre-match press conference had caused an enormous fury from Laporta, amid pressure from other members of his board to sack him. It did not go down well that he had said it would be difficult to compete with Real Madrid, and that Barcelona had not planned to bring Vitor Roque in this January. The feeling is that Xavi has not adhered to the pacts made when the pair met to decide to continue next season.

Now, RAC1 say that he will be sacked. Laporta has decided that he will not continue in the post next season. Cadena Cope had reported that that he was closer to leaving than staying, while El Chiringuito also said that he was 99% gone on Wednesday night, and on Thursday morning, Jordi Baste broke the news. Marca reported prior to the RAC1 news that despite the frustration with Xavi’s press conference, there would be no action, and MD had said similar, but they are no reporting that Laporta considering a sacking too.

It remains to be seen whether the separation will be amicable – Xavi had agreed to walk away at the end of the season without asking for the remainder of his contract to be paid. Between him and his staff, Barcelona would be paying out in excess of €10m during a time of financial grief. It will also no doubt impact their search for a new boss, as such institutional instability will not be appealing for any prospective coach.