Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez turned down the chance to join former boss Pep Guardiola at Bayern Munich last summer.
A report in Mundo Deportivo claims the 34-year-old replied with a resounding ‘no’ when Guardiola gave him the opportunity to continue his career with the Bundesliga giants, maintaining that he was unwilling to sign for any of Barca’s direct rivals, including any Spanish clubs.
At the time it was presumed Xavi’s incredible career with the Catalans had come to the end of an era, although he later decided to stay for another season, and several clubs were alerted to the situation.
Besides Major League Soccer outfits and teams in Qatar, MD claims Manchester United boss Louis Van Gaal was also in the hunt for the Spanish international, despite the player himself having confided to friends that if he departed the Camp Nou then it would be for the Middle East or the United States – away from the big competitions where he could have come into contact with his former club.
Having failed to convince Xavi to make the move to Germany, Guardiola then turned his attention to Real Madrid’s Xabi Alonso, whom he eventually signed on a two-year deal for a fee understood to be in the region of €10m.
