Joan Laporta must personally travel to Qatar to release Xavi from Al-Sadd, reports ASH. Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad only wants to negotiate with the president of Barcelona to allow the former midfielder to return to Catalonia as a trainer. It means that Xavi’s arrival to Barcelona could be delayed by a few days as Laporta has to find a gap in his busy schedule to travel to Doha.
Since the resignation of Ronald Koeman, Xavi has been the favorite to become the new coach of Barcelona. However, he still has a contract with Al-Sadd until mid-2023 and the Qatari club already announced last week that it will not let his trainer go without a fight. “In response to what has been going around recently, Al-Sadd’s management reaffirms that Xavi has a two-year contract with the club. He is fully focused on the team’s upcoming matches, on maintaining our lead in the competition and on prolonging the league title.”
Xavi and Al-Sadd have already agreed that he can leave for Barcelona under relatively extenuating circumstances. The Catalans must pay a lump sum – which, according to ASH ‘much higher’ than the previously reported one million euros – to be paid. That amount can still be printed with an agreement on a friendly match between Al-Sadd and Barcelona in Doha, which is to be completed over the next two years. However, it is a hard condition for Al-Sadd that Laporta travels to Qatar to personally conduct the negotiations.
ASH writes that in Qatari culture it is considered ‘rude’ for the negotiations to be conducted by someone lower in rank than Laporta in Barcelona. “If you want to reach an agreement on Xavi in a friendly way and without any problems, you should come to Doha. The sheikh wants to negotiate with his equal at Barcelona. That means he wants to see Laporta,” the Spanish newspaper quotes Al-Sadd’s message for Barcelona.
As a result, Laporta has to find a hole in his full agenda to travel to Qatar. Barcelona will take on Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday evening in Ukraine and at the moment everything indicates that Laporta will head to Doha on Thursday with vice-chairman Rafa Yuste and director of football affairs Mateu Alemany. Al-Sadd has just finished an important game, as the duel with closest pursuer Al-Duhail is scheduled for Wednesday. If Xavi’s team wins, the lead of the leader of the Qatari competition over the number two is already six points.
As it looks now, Xavi won’t be arriving in Barcelona until Sunday at the earliest to smooth out the final folds. It means that he will in any case not sit on the bench as previously reported during the away game against Celta de Vigo, which is scheduled for next Saturday. For the time being, Sergi Barjuán is therefore still in charge of Barcelona on an interim basis.