Barcelona have confirmed the return of club legend, Xavi Hernandez as first-team coach.
The legendary midfielder replace Ronald Koeman whose 14-month reign came to an end following Barca’s 1-0 defeat to Rayo Vallecano on October 27.
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Xavi will also be charged with improving the team’s style of play and results, which was a key criticism during the tenure of Koeman.
In a statement on Saturday, the club announced it had reached an agreement with Xavi to become first-team coach for the rest of the current season and on a deal through the 2023-24 season.
“It is expected that Xavi Hernandez will arrive in Barcelona this weekend and on Monday 8 November his presentation as new FC Barcelona first-team coach will take place in an event open to the public at Camp Nou,” it said.
The Spaniard after making 767 appearances for the Catalan club, and winning eight La Liga titles and four Champions Leagues left Camp Nou to play for Al Sadd in 2015 and retired four years later before becoming the Qatari club’s permanent manager and delivered the league title in his second season at the helm.
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Barcelona’s bid to appoint Xavi as coach reached a turning point on Friday over his Al Sadd release clause, with Xavi and Barca considering splitting the payment to complete the deal.
Al Sadd said Barca had agreed to pay the clause in Xavi’s contract, which is reportedly set at around 5 million euros ($5.8 million), but Barcelona did not give any details of the deal in their statement.
