Xavi again at Barcelona, named head coach till 2024

Barcelona stated on Saturday they’d named former midfielder and captain Xavi Hernandez as head coach on a contract till 2024, following the sacking of Ronald Koeman. The LaLiga membership acquired the inexperienced gentle on Friday to signal the 41-year-old after they paid the discharge clause in his contract with Qatari facet Al-Sadd.
Xavi performed for Barcelona for 17 years, making 767 appearances and profitable 25 trophies, together with 4 Champions League wins and eight league titles. “FC Barcelona have reached an agreement with Xavi Hernandez for him to become first team coach for the rest of the current season and two more seasons,” the membership stated in an announcement headlined “WELCOME BACK HOME, XAVI!” “Xavi Hernandez, a youth team product at Barca, has left his current club, Al-Sadd of Qatar, after talks held over the last few days with the owners of the club.”
Dutch coach Koeman was sacked after a 1-0 defeat by Rayo Vallecano final month which left Barca ninth in LaLiga. The membership are nonetheless ninth after Sergi Barjuan was appointed as caretaker coach and sit 9 factors behind leaders Real Sociedad with a sport in hand. Barjuan is about to stay in cost for his or her league match at Celta Vigo on Saturday, with Xavi arriving in Barcelona this weekend earlier than his presentation on Monday.
“It wasn’t goodbye, it was ‘see you soon’. The Camp Nou has always been my home,” Xavi stated in a video addressed to the followers. “You’re my fans, my people, the club that I love the most. And now, I’m coming home. See you soon, Culers. Forca Barca!” Xavi’s first sport can be a neighborhood derby in opposition to Espanyol on Nov. 20, after the worldwide break.
A former Spain worldwide, Xavi joined Al-Sadd as a participant in 2015, turning into head coach after hanging up his boots in 2019. In April, he led his facet to the Qatari home league title with the staff unbeaten. He turned down the possibility to educate Barca in January 2020 after Ernesto Valverde was sacked, however remained linked with the job even after Koeman succeeded Quique Setien in August of final yr.