Xavi Agrees to Replace Quique Setien as New Manager of the Club for £5.4 Million Deal
Xavi is set to become Barcelona manager from the beginning of next season, with a report in Spain claiming he’s already agreed to take over from Quique Setien.
Things at Barcelona are not in a good place right now, having recently lost top spot in La Liga to their rivals Real Madrid, and on Thursday night it was reported that Lionel Messi was ready to leave the club after next season.
However, the club may already be taking steps to try and keep the forward, according to Mundo Deportivo journalist Francesc Aguilar, the Barcelona icon ‘Xavi’ has agreed to take over the club next season.
🚨 — Reliable sources in Qatar have reported that Xavi has accepted to coach Barcelona next season. He will only coach them after the end of this season and after this season's UCL campaign, no matter what. [@FApor_elmundo] pic.twitter.com/8aB3q5bATx
The tweets from Aguilar say the former Barca midfielder doesn’t want to take over until after the Champions League in August but there is an agreement in principle.
“In the agreement between Barça and Xavi to train the Barça club from next season, the calls of several important members of the squad would have had great weight, asking Xavi to take the step, who had his full support.” Aguilar tweeted.
En el acuerdo entre el Barça y Xavi para que entrene al club azulgrana a partir de la próxima temporada, habría tenido un gran peso las llamadas de varios componentes importantes de la plantilla pidiéndole a Xavi que diera el paso, que contaba con todo su apoyo.
Quique Setién, is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of La Liga club Barcelona. As a player, he played in the central midfield position.
Setien, 61, has been under intense pressure since replacing Ernesto Valverde in January, and there are speculations that the club’s board have already decided to sack him in order to pave the way for Xavi.
According to Mundo Deportivo, a “firm agreement” has been finalized and it would see Barcelona pay Xavi, 40, a bumper £5.4million per year. He is expected to take up the reins at the end of the season.
Part of the reports yesterday about Messi’s potential departure centered on the lack of a successful project on the pitch and some claimed the Argentine wanted either Xavi or Ronald Koeman as the next manager.
Seeing his former teammate, and the man who helped assist him on a lot of occasions, become the new boss could help persuade the club’s all time top scorer to stay beyond next summer.