How Barcelona ‘Pressures’ Xavi to Stay

As Barcelona continues to ‘resist’ and remains in the fight for La Liga and the Champions League, work continues within the club regarding planning for the next project. In this regard, the main idea of the Barcelona leadership is for Xavi to reconsider his decision to leave the Blaugrana bench this coming summer.

Xavi’s peace depends on the club, not the environment

It has been over two months since the Terrassa native surprisingly announced in a press conference, after losing at home to Villarreal, that he would not continue. Since then, the performance of the Barcelona first team has been impeccable: 11 games unbeaten, the second-best streak of the season (13).

During this time frame, the Champions League tie against Napoli was brilliantly overcome, as was a match that was akin to a final in the challenging venue of the Metropolitano (0-3). Considering all this and assessing the options available in the market, the board believes that the idea of Xavi remaining at the helm of the first team is the most feasible and beneficial for the club’s well-being.

From there, logically, arguments need to be presented to convince the Terrassa-born coach to change his mind. What’s the catch? Xavi only thinks, as he has reiterated time and again to the media, about the present. He focuses on the PSG tie and on getting through the upcoming matches.

Core leadership

There is a core leadership team within the club’s sporting management (Laporta, Yuste, Deco, and Echevarría), but it’s Laporta who makes the final decisions. It’s a clearly presidential model. Both Yuste and Laporta have publicly expressed their preference regarding the continuity of the Terrassa native.

Xavi wants a project. He doesn’t want to speak with four or five players and end up with none of them coming (such as Bernardo Silva, Zubimendi, etc.). Xavi won’t accept this situation and will want guarantees in case he reconsiders his decision to stay on as head coach next season.