With Xavi set for his final game as Barcelona head coach, it’s been revealed that there was far more to his falling out with Joan Laporta than just a few pessimistic comments.
Xavi, who said he was leaving on January 27, re-upped with the Catalans on April 24, only for president Laporta to sack him exactly a month later.
It was widely reported by local media that it was due to his comments that Barcelona couldn’t compete with Real Madrid due to FFP and economic concerns, but that wasn’t the only reason.
Reliable Catalan outlet Esport3 claim that the president clashed with Xavi and sporting director Deco over summer sales.
Xavi and Deco had agreed on five players they wanted to give up on – Robert Lewandowski, Joao Felix, Oriol Romeu, Marcos Alonso and Vitor Roque.
Laporta was on board with the latter three, but not the first two. Instead, the president wants to build around 35-year-old Lewandowski, an idea he has leaned even further into by bringing in Hansi Flick next season as head coach.
Flick coached the Pole to a Bundesliga record 41-goal season in 2020/21, and will now be tasked with doing the same in Spain.
What Deco thinks of his president’s involvement on the matter remains to be seen…
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