Former Barcelona skipper Xavi Hernandez has insisted that he would want to become the manager at the Catalan club in the future.
The 38-year old is still playing in Qatar for Al Sadd and has revealed that he will stay with the Qatari club for one more year before calling retirement to his illustrious career. However, there will not be much time before we can see him back in the game as he eyes to start a career in football management.
Xavi Hernandez is an icon at Barca as he spent 24 years at the club and won countless trophies during his time at Camp Nou. He is considered as an all-time great and an icon by the club.
The Blaugrana are also trying to bring back former players to take up coaching and administrative responsibilities. Having already had the likes of Pep Guardiola, Luis Enrique in managerial roles, it remains a possibility that Xavi could be back as a manager at the club one day in the future.
The Spaniard who will play in the 19th edition of the league has revealed saying, “My intention is to stay another year in Qatar and then hang up my boots and spread my wings. At 38, I have had a long enough career and therefore it’s the time for new challenges.”
Speaking of his challenges post retirement, Xavi said: “I want to be a manager, I don’t want to hide it. And obviously I don’t want to hide the fact that sooner or later I want to be manager of FC Barcelona. But first I have to learn and that’s not a one month, two month or three month process but takes years. To coach FC Barcelona you have to be very, very well trained but, as I said, my dream is to sit on Barça’s bench as manager one day.”
Xavi made an incredible 767 appearances for Barcelona during his time with the club and had won 8 La Liga titles, 4 Champions League titles and one FIFA World Cup apart from various cup triumphs. He is also considered one of the greatest pass masters in world football ever as he was at the heart of Pep Guardiola’s tiki taka.