“He didn’t like me” – Former Barcelona defender breaks silence on his relationship with Xavi

Just a few years after leaving FC Barcelona on a permanent deal, Oscar Mingueza has established himself as one of La Liga’s best-performing right-backs.

Currently plying his trade for Celta Vigo, Mingueza has been a star performer this season, racking up two goals and five assists. His performances have not gone unnoticed, with the player recently earning a Spain call-up for the first time since 2021.

Mingueza’s breakthrough after leaving Barcelona suggests he had a tough time settling in at Barça. In fact, his strained relationship with Xavi has been well-documented in the past.

Mingueza breaks silence on Xavi relationship

In a recent interaction with TV3 (h/t Diario SPORT), Mingueza opened up about his relationship with Xavi Hernandez.

The Spaniard admitted he didn’t have the best of relationships with the former Barcelona coach.

Mingueza has questioned Xavi’s mentality (Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images)

“When Xavi arrived we weren’t in good shape, maybe he didn’t like me or something. He told me I would play 10 games. I don’t think he had the best mentality in the world, that’s why I left Barcelona,” he said.

“I trained for the sake of training, I played for the sake of playing. I left Barcelona to try to get the motivation to play, enjoy and improve my performance again,” the defender added.

Mingueza left Barcelona in 2022, in favour of a permanent move to Celta Vigo. Since then, he has racked up 76 competitive appearances for the club.

Will Mingueza return to Barcelona?

Interestingly, however, Mingueza has been closely linked with a return to Barcelona as the club look to reinforce their ranks in the right-back position.

Barcelona still hold 50% of the player’s rights, meaning they can re-sign the defender for a fee of just €10 million.

Celta Vigo, though, are reportedly looking to buy out the full transfer rights of Mingueza, in an attempt to avoid offloading the player on a cut-price deal.