Tuesday, May 4, 2021 at 11:58 AM• Rian Rosendaal • Last update: 12:25

Al-Sadd is reportedly not planning to renew the partnership with trainer Xavi, which has prompted rumors of a return to Barcelona to resurface. According to various Spanish media, the club icon is not unwelcome to a position with the Catalan superpower. There has already been talk of a place for Xavi on the board of Barcelona, ​​which has been led by the new chairman Joan Laporta since March.

Due to the good performance of Ronald Koeman as a trainer, according to reports from Spain, it is unlikely that Xavi will take on the role of head coach in the long term. The former midfielder was already mentioned as the new coach of Barcelona in January 2020, as the successor to the dismissed Ernesto Valverde. At the time, however, Quique Sétien was chosen. The latter coach was put on the street in August last year after the ignominious 2-8 defeat against Bayern Munich in the quarter finals of the Champions League. Shortly afterwards, Koeman was appointed as the new coach at Camp Nou.

In the run-up to the presidential elections in early March, Xavi’s name popped up again in Barcelona, ​​especially because presidential candidate Víctor Font saw him as the dream successor to Koeman. Xavi then made it clear in an open letter that he thinks it is still too early for a return to Barcelona as a coach. “There will certainly come a time when it will be time to take the next step in my career, but now I focus on my time here and want to take my chance to play a small part in Qatar’s exciting adventure towards 2022. “

A few months later, the situation is very different, as the collaboration between Al-Sadd and Xavi seems to be coming to an end soon. The club was recently eliminated from the Asian Champions League and the club management wants to take a new path after two years, media in Qatar report. In February, Xavi was still clear about a future return to Barcelona. “I have a lot of respect for Ronald Koeman, the current coach of Barcelona. But that does not mean that I ever want to become the coach of Barcelona. I have stated that many times. Nevertheless, I will never get in the way of the current coach”, said Xavi, who came out a total of 767 times in the shirt of the Catalans.