Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez has achieved the main objective for this season after securing the La Liga title on Sunday. And he is expecting the club to recognise his work.
The Blaugrana coach was set to negotiate a contract extension this summer anyway, with just a year left on his deal. However now that the title has been secured, it clears the way for contract talks to begin, with Xavi having delayed until the season was settled.
As per Alfredo Martinez, Xavi is expecting a significant pay rise from the club. Initial talks have been defined by a large gap between the two on numbers, with the pair ‘condemned to understand each other’ as they say in Spain.
Xavi gave up a sizeable sum in order to leave his deal in Qatar with Al-Sadd, and now expects the club to compensate him somewhat, having delivered results on the pitch. Barcelona are obviously enforcing cuts across the club and a major pay rise probably isn’t on their agenda.
The Catalan coach is now negotiating from a position of greater strength, and President Joan Laporta cannot afford to lose him by any stretch. Yet there is little chance of Xavi leaving the club over money either – the only direction of travel for the Catalan is down from Barcelona, and he will want to finish what he has started at Camp Nou.
