Xavi opens door to Barcelona management return with latest comments

Barcelona legend Xavi has reaffirmed his desire to return to the club and manage in the future.

The midfielder has been linked with the job for some time now, and it feels very much like it’s a matter of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’ for him filling that role.

After weathering an extremely tough start to his own time in charge, Ronald Koeman suffered another huge blow as he watched his side be dismantled at the hands of Kylian Mbappé and PSG in the Champions League.

While the club’s league form has improved, a poor start to the season means they sit nine points off leaders Atlético Madrid. With their Champions League campaign now hanging by a thread, and upcoming presidential elections, it could be a difficult few months for Koeman.

Presidential candidate Victor Font has previously spoken about his desire to bring Xavi back to the Catalan side, and the ever-looming shadow of the club legend may be getting slightly bigger with each poor result.

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What has Xavi said?

Xavi, who currently manages Qatari side Al Sadd, has left the door open for his return, though stressed his respect for Koeman.

“Right now, I’m at Al Sadd and I’m doing well here. I’m at a big club in Asia, in Qatar. It’s the best team in Qatar,’ Xavi told FIFA’s official website.

“We’ll see what happens in the future. Everyone sees me as a Barcelona coach, and I really respect Barcelona and Koeman, the current head coach.

“I don’t want to hide the truth – of course I would like to be Barcelona’s head coach. I’ve said it many times.

“But I will always respect the presiding coach and the club. I wish them the best of course. I’ve been a Barcelona fan as long as I can remember. 

“There’s an upcoming presidential election, so let’s see which candidate wins in roughly a month’s time.”

Featured image credit: Getty