Xavi: Barcelona officials arrive in Qatar for talks about Al Sadd boss

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Xavi, a former Spain midfielder, has been leading Al Sadd since 2019.

Qatari club Al Sadd insists that Xavi won't be allowed to leave during "this sensitive season", despite Barcelona officials arriving at Doha for talks.

Former Barca midfielder Xavi (41), is the favorite to succeed Ronald Koeman as Catalan club boss.

Last week, Koeman, age 58, was fired.

Al Sadd chief executive Turki Al Al-Ali stated, "The club's position has been clear from the start - we are committed keeping Xavi with Us."

"We can't have him leave during this sensitive season."

Rafa Yuste, Mateu Alemany and Barcelona officials travelled to Doha Tuesday to discuss Xavi's release. They met with former midfielder's agents Wednesday, according to Reuters.

Barcelona is currently ninth in La Liga after winning four of their first 11 games. Real Sociedad is nine points behind them.

Barcelona President Joan Laporta stated Friday that he was in touch with Xavi - who won 25 major honours and played 779 games for Barca from 1998 to 2015 - regarding replacing Koeman.

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

"We have many great 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.