FC Barcelona head coach Xavi Hernandez requested three players to either stay at or join the club in order to agree to fulfil his contract according to Mundo Deportivo, which cited anonymous sources.
In a dramatic U-turn, Xavi went back on his original decision announced at the start of the year, which would have seen him step down from the hotseat on June 30.
After a Wednesday night meeting with President Joan Laporta at Laporta’s residence, with other members of the board including Sporting Director Deco present, Xavi decided to see out his contract which expires on the same date in 2025.
Xavi wanted the sporting project moving forward explained to him, Mundo Deportivo says, and also stressed which players he would like to keep or see purchased.
Ronald Araujo has been linked with a possible move away from the club to Bayern Munich this summer.
Yet Xavi is adamant on maintaining the center back despite his costly error in the Champions League quarterfinals, where a moment of madness reduced the Blaugrana to 10-men in the second leg and contributed heavily to a 6-4 aggregate loss.
Reinforcements will also be important for the former number 6, who finally wants Laporta to land his white wale in Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva.
Barca has tried and failed to buy the Portuguese in the past two summer transfer windows, and will have to labor to raise the funds required to trigger his $62.5 million (£50 million) release clause.
Xavi wants a suitable successor to Sergio Busquets too, after encountering similar problems replacing the defensive midfielder ahead of this term.
Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich or Martin Zubimendi at Real Sociedad were the two preferred options, but the same economic woes meant that Barca had to settle for purchasing Oriol Romeu for a few million dollars from Girona.
The La Masia graduate started his time at former boyhood club Barca promisingly, but then fell behind the pack with a string of poor performances that knocked his confidence.
With Silva and either Kimmich or Zubimendi arriving at the Montjuic Stadium, plus Araujo sticking around, Xavi would apparently be made a happy man heading into 2024/2025.
