Barcelona’s Eric Abidal and Oscar Grau traveled to Doha to speak with the former midfielder.
In a somewhat surprising development, news broke that Barcelona met up with former club legend, Xavi Hernandez, and reportedly discuss the possibility of him taking over as manager.
This comes just a day after the future of Ernesto Valverde was cast into doubt following the club’s Spanish Super Cup exit against Atletico Madrid.
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Catalan journalist Gerard Romero was one of the first to break the news coming from RAC1.
However, the Blaugrana approaching Xavi does not necessarily mean that Valverde’s job is in jeopardy. Again, despite the loss, the board and players have backed him publicly.
Abidal and Grau may have just taken advantage of being in close proximity to Xavi to discuss the possibility of him potentially taking over.
According to Mundo Deportivo, the reason for the trip to Doha was to check in on the recovery process of Ousmane Dembélé.
‼️ NOTÍCIA @EsportsRAC1
— El Barça juga a RAC1 (@FCBRAC1) January 10, 2020
El Barça, amb Eric Abidal i Òscar Grau, està reunit amb Xavi Hernández a Doha per explorar la possibilitat que sigui el nou entrenador. #frac1 pic.twitter.com/ZYrBEtZIe2
ESPN extinguished more of the flames of Valverde being let go by reporting that Xavi is being considered as a serious replacement to take over in the summer rather than during the season.
The timing of this whole thing is merely a coincidence.
Still, what this could this mean is that the club believe it is a strong possibility that Ernesto Valverde will not continue after this season. There is an option to extend him for one more season but given the team’s results and the disapproval from supporters, exercising that option seems unlikely.
He knows the club but is inexperienced despite currently managing Qatari side Al-Saad.
Xavi joins the likes of Ronald Koeman, Roberto Martinez, and a whole host of other names who could take over a Barcelona side who will need to reinvigorate a squad that is getting up there in age.