Barcelona legend Xavi has admitted that he would like to one day manage the Catalan outfit he once called home. The 36-year-old, who made 750 appearances for Barcelona and won 25 trophies, was widely considered to be the best playmaker in the world during his time at the Nou Camp.
Now playing for Qatari side Al Sadd, Xavi told FourFourTwo that he would love to manage Barcelona in the future, something we’re sure all Barcelona fans would love to see.
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“I have no doubts, I want to stay in football being close to the pitch, I would hate being stuck in an office,” he said.
“I want to do something properly or not at all. My ultimate objective is to coach Barcelona, I’m not hiding that. I want to work again for that house I consider home. Whenever I have 10 minutes to myself, bang, the football goes on the tv.
My wife knows that and she hates football, I’ll put on La Liga and keep an eye on the Premier League games too, I’ll study the line-ups and who’s scored on my phone”.
If Xavi were to eventually manage Barcelona, he would follow in the footsteps of other midfielders Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique, who both went on to successfully manage Barcelona after playing for the club.
The playmaker is certainly experienced when it comes to working with top class managers and played under 10 different managers at Barcelona, including Louis van Gaal and Pep Guardiola.
Having signed a three-year contract with Doha-based Al Sadd last summer, Xavi added that he is happy with his life in Qatar, despite the league not being up to the standard of those in Europe. Much like David Beckham did in the USA, Xavi said he is still enjoying his football and would like to leave “a legacy” for the 2022 World Cup.
“Listen, I’m playing in Qatar, it’s a professional league, you can’t just coast through games because everyone is well-prepared physically and the teams are evenly matched, but it’s not like Europe,” he said.
“Tactically, it’s not that well developed, but I love playing football and Al Sadd play a possession game, so I touch the ball over 100 times per game. I’m here for football and I want to leave a legacy for the 2022 World Cup.”
As Luis Enrique continues to dominate with Barcelona, we’re not sure Xavi will be taking over the Catalan outfit anytime soon, but when his time comes, and we’re sure it will, we imagine the club would benefit greatly from the knowledge of the midfield maestro.
