Former Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez departed under cloud, weeks after he had appeared in a press conference with President Joan Laporta assuring he would be there the following season. It seems relations became strained on the whole.
Xavi had big plans for Barcelona this summer, including moving on Robert Lewandowski and making a play for a defensive midfielder. Relevo report that while he was keen to find an alternative to the Polish striker, there were rumours that he was also looking to move on Ronald Araujo and Pedri, which Xavi’s camp have assured were false. He believes that these rumours, and the tension generated with the playing staff, were a result of deliberately planted stories by members within the Barcelona hierarchy.
Víctor: "My reaction when I found out Barcelona had practically signed me? I left Girona's training session feeling really nervous because I was so eager for the day to arrive. My agent called to let me know that Girona had given the green light. My first reaction was crying."
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) September 7, 2024
With Pedri, it became such an issue that Xavi had to hold clear the air talks with the midfielder, assuring him that there was nothing in the story. This was accepted, but Barcelona went a step further, looking to tackle his fitness issues by installing a gym in his home, and making current fitness coach Julio Tous available to the Canary Islander.
This was done without Xavi’s knowledge, and early this season, Pedri has commented that ‘the team no longer sinks after 70 or 80 minutes’, praising the current fitness coaches’ work. Pedri’s comments have been part of a general narrative from the Barcelona squad too.
Cadena Cope say that this is a deliberate comment on Xavi’s work, although the original report from Miguel Rico claims that Xavi sees no bad blood in his comments. Cope’s Dani Senabre explained that Pedri also became frustrated with a series of rumours about his private life not helping his injury record, and felt that the club and Xavi did not do enough to defend him.
While it seemed Xavi’s relationship with the board and sporting department at Barcelona was the major issue, and probably earned him his dismissal, perhaps the atmosphere with the squad was not particularly positive either. It will remain as speculation though, as neither party is likely to confirm any of this publicly.
