Xavi; Barcelona president Joan Laporta admits talks with former midfielder

Last update on.From European Football
Since 2019, Al Sadd has been under the control of Xavi.

Joan Laporta, president of Barcelona, says he has been in touch with Xavi, but won't comment on whether he will succeed Ronald Koeman.

After Wednesday's defeat to Rayo Vallecano, Koeman was fired and Laporta admitted that he should have gone sooner.

Former Barca midfielder Xavi (41), is now in charge of Qatari club Al Sadd and is favourite to succeed Koeman.

Laporta stated, "I have always believed that one day [Xavi] would be Barca's head coaches but I don't know when."

He said, "We have many references about Xavi at Al Sadd. Our reports on Xavi have been positive. Although we can talk a lot more about Xavi, I am unable to give you any further details. We have other options.

Laporta was asked Friday at a press conference whether he waited too much to make a decision about Dutchman Koeman’s future.

He said, "Probably, yes." It is clear that we believed Koeman deserved the confidence to heal some of his players. We also felt it was a motivator for him.

"I searched for positives. We probably had to make an earlier call, so I take over the responsibility for this decision."