Barcelona news is being dominated by the presidential elections later this month and there is one result that will ensure Xavi Hernandez returns to the club this season.
As per a report in Marca, if Victor Font is elected as the club’s new president then the former Blaugrana captain will return to the Camp Nou in April.
Carlos Tusquets is the current interim president of the Blaugrana but elections will be held on 24 January with multiple candidates vying to replace the departed Josep Maria Bartomeu.
The elections at the club will be held in a fortnight and Font has once again insisted that if his campaign is successful, the former club captain will be involved at the club – initially in the role as General Manager with a long-term view to being the club’s next coach.
It appears that Xavi will initially return to the Blaugrana to oversee football operations and he would like to be first-team boss in the future, but the role is currently held by Ronald Koeman.
Xavi – currently at the helm of Qatari club Al Sadd – has been heavily linked with a return to the club in recent months and indeed the former midfielder maestro Xavi rejected Barcelona over the managerial position in January after the sacking of Ernesto Valverde.
The fresh report in Marca reiterates that Xavi will definitely return to the club as planned if Font wins the presidency, although he must wait until the end of his current contract in Qatar.
That will be in April, and the former midfield maestro will return to the Catalan capital at that point if Font is indeed the president.
However, Joan Laporta has garnered a whopping 10,257 signatures – fourth on the all-time record list at this stage and is viewed as favourite for the position.
Xavi would be open to returning to the club under a Laporta presidency – the two are close from the president’s stint in charge of the club between 2003 and 2010 – but there is no agreement in place as things stand.
Xavi made 767 first-team appearances for the Catalan giants between 1998 and 2015, alongside winning 133 caps for the Spanish national team.
He won eight La Liga titles alongside three Copa del Rey crowns and four Champions League trophies in his total of 25 titles with the club.
