Barcelona head coach Xavi Hernandez will remain in charge of the club until the end of his contract in June 2025 at the earliest after reversing his initial decision to make this his final season at Camp Nou.
The 44-year-old specialist announced in January that he would retire from his post in the summer. But after Catalan president Joan Laporta expressed his desire for him to stay, the former club and Spain midfielder changed his mind.
Xavi was appointed Blaugrana coach in November 2021 after leaving Qatar's Al Sadd and leading Barca to La Liga triumph in his first full season in charge in 2022/23. However, the team is currently 11 points behind league leaders Real Madrid with six rounds remaining in the championship. Barcelona were also knocked out of the Champions League last week after defeat by Paris Saint-Germain in the quarter-final stage of the tournament.
Xavi, who won 25 trophies during his playing career at Camp Nou, said earlier when he announced his decision to leave that he did not feel protected by the club, which had no clear direction. But from that moment on, the team went on a good run - ten consecutive matches without a loss in La Liga, before the defeat by Real with 2:3 in another edition of El Clasico.
Xavi met with Laporta at his home on Wednesday and it was eventually decided that he would remain in charge of the club. If he fails to improve the Catalans by the end of the 2024/25 season, Barcelona could target any of the top managers who will be out of contract then - including Pep Guardiola, Luis Enrique and Mikel Arteta. /BGNES
