Barcelona could hold onto Xavi Hernandez as method of buying time to appoint preferred coach

The future of the Barcelona bench is an unknown for next season, with Xavi Hernandez having announced his exit, but no clear replacement lined up and plenty of talk about him changing his mind. He could well stay for lack of a better option.

Barca Atletic manager Rafael Marquez is the current favourite as an alternative, but like the external candidates Thomas Tuchel or Hansi Flick, none have convinced the hierarchy entirely. Within that hierarchy, there are also certain figures backing Xavi and others that are not.

🚨 Bayern have never abandoned De Jong from their sights. The German club is still following his situation, but the topic is not hot as of now. His extremely high wages are a problem. @Plettigoal🇳🇱 pic.twitter.com/WEAnMfijIh

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) April 22, 2024

Subsequently, Sport have also added that President Laporta feels that Xavi will maintain more of the focus of the media, rather than dropping the bill for bad results at his door if Marquez is in charge. He feels there is a chance that Marquez might not last an entire season.

It is not lost on Barcelona that Mikel Arteta at Arsenal, Pep Guardiola at Manchester City and Luis Enrique at Paris Saint-Germain are all out of contract in the summer 2025, and they could try to persuade Xavi to fulfil his contract, buying time before going for a manager that they are more convinced by.

Regardless of who Barcelona go with next season, it seems a bad idea to go with a place-holder for a season. In Xavi’s case, that would be a temporary solution that already isn’t functioning well. The lack of planning for the next campaign at these heights of the season will surely be a concern for Cules too, given a difficult summer is likely on the way.