Premier League giants wanted to hire Xavi as coach before Barcelona continuity announcement

Joan Laporta and Xavi jointly confirmed the latter’s continuity as the manager of Barcelona beyond this summer in a press conference yesterday, putting an end to all talk of his departure.

The decision, which was taken in a meeting late on Wednesday night, thus saw the manager go against his words from January when he stated that nothing could change his decision to leave in June.

Barcelona and Xavi, needless to say, are pleased over the mutual agreement and Catalonia is all smiles. There is, however, one party in England who feels hard done by the announcement.

United miss out

In a recent report, Hugo Cerezo and Sergio Fernandez revealed that Manchester United rated Xavi highly as a potential replacement for Erik Ten Hag in the summer.

The Red Devils, after all, have endured a disastrous season on all fronts. 33 games in the English league, they sit in sixth place on the standings and almost found themselves knocked out of the FA Cup by Coventry earlier this week.

Xavi set to continue at Barcelona. (Photo by LLUIS GENE/AFP via Getty Images)

The offices in Manchester, thus, followed Barcelona’s movements in recent days with great interest. News of Xavi’s continuity comes as a big disappointment to them as it removes one of their prime managerial targets for the summer.

Negotiations were not held

United saw the Barcelona legend as a young manager, fresh with exuberance, and capable of leading a new project and bringing it to fruition.

However, no contacts were made with the manager or his agent, Arturo Canales, over the interest as they preferred to wait for the summer before negotiating. After all, their institutional crisis sees them without an appointed sports director.

Nevertheless, Xavi’s focus is now on finishing the season strongly and heading into the 2024-25 campaign with renewed focus. Next season, in many ways, will be the true test of his managerial prowess.