Al Sadd manager Xavi Hernandez will leave his post to take up the vacant job at his former club Barcelona, confirmed the Qatar-based side. Barcelona have paid Al Sadd a small compensation worth five million euros to release Xavi from his contract; The Spaniard is now free to take over the managerial role vacated by Ronald Koeman recently.
Turki Al-Ali, Al Sadd’s CEO, confirmed the news to the world via the club’s official Twitter account. He said the following:
“Xavi informed us a few days ago of his desire to go to Barcelona at this particular time, because of the critical stage his hometown club is going through, and we understand this and decided not to stand in his way. Xavi and his family will remain welcome in Doha, and our relationship will continue.”
The former Barca captain moved to Al Sadd in 2015, bringing down the curtains on a 17-years-long stint at his boyhood club filled with trophies. He continued to play for the Qatar side for four more years before he hung up his boots and took on the managerial role.
Xavi managed just under 100 games for Al Sadd, boasting a win percentage of over 65 per cent. He won the Qatar Stars League in 2021 without losing a single match. During his time as a manager in Qatar, he also won the Qatar Cup twice (2020, 2021), the Emir of Qatar Cup twice (2020, 2021), the Qatari Stars Cup (2019/20), and the Qatar Super Cup (2019).
The Spaniard is expected to take over a Barcelona side sitting ninth in the league table. The Blaugrana have won four of their eleven matches so far, losing three – including an El Clasico – and drawing the remaining four.
