Barcelona are expected to announce Xavi Hernandez’s spectacular return to the club as coach, after Al Sadd reported on Friday that the clubs had reached an agreement.
The Qatari club confirmed in a statement that Barcelona had paid Xavi’s release clause. Xavi has been teaching in Qatar since 2019 and now returns to the club where he had enormous success as a player.
Al Sadd chief executive Turki Al-Ali said in a statement: “The Al Sadd administration has agreed on Xavi’s move to Barcelona after the payment of the release clause stipulated in the contract.
“We’ve agreed on cooperation with Barcelona in the future. Xavi is an important part of Al-Sadd’s history and we wish him success.”
On Wednesday, Barcelona sent vice president Rafa Yuste and director of football Mateu Alemany to Doha for negotiations.
However, Turki Al-Ali maintained earlier on Wednesday that Al Sadd were “determined to keeping Xavi,” and they look to have kept their ground in the negotiations, with Barca required to pay Xavi’s release clause, which has been estimated to be five million euros ($5.8 million).
“Xavi notified us a few days ago of his wish to travel to Barcelona at this particular time, because of the important stage his local team is going through, and we understand this and decided not to stand in his way,” Turki Al-Ali said on Friday.
Barcelona was forced to let Lionel Messi leave the club before the season began, and the club has revealed that it is stuck with massive debts.
