5 Managers That Joan Laporta Has Shortlisted For Barcelona

#2 Xavi Hernandez  (Clubs Managed: Al Sadd)

One of Barcelona’s greatest ever, Xavi Hernandez, has been linked with the Barcelona job forever and next season he may finally get to return to the club he loves. The former La Masia graduate is arguably one of Blaugrana’s most important players in their history. In fact, until recently, the legend held the record for the most number of games played in a Catalan shirt however, Lionel Messi was able to break that record this season.

Since his departure, Xavi has become a prolific coach in the Qatar Stars League and has already led the club to a league title as well as a domestic cup. He did so in considerable ease as well. His smooth-flowing attacking style that he has adopted from Guardiola has turned his team, Al Sadd SC, into an unstoppable machine and they went undefeated in the 2020/21 season. His focus on attacking football does often come at the price of a shaky defense however, the coach is still learning and it is only his second year in the managerial scene.

While he will one day return to Barcelona as a coach without a shadow of a doubt, it might not be the next season. Laporta adores the player however, he wants to wait a bit more until he appoints Xavi as there are still some players in the squad who used to play with Xavi.