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How Barcelona convinced Xavi to stay
Big news last night as Xavi is set to stay as Barcelona manager next season. It’s confirmed, after just months ago Xavi announced he was going to leave at the end of this campaign. There were rumours about him possibly changing his mind, which he denied, but now he is staying after a crazy day at Barcelona.
So, what really happened in the last 24 hours to change the story? As I’ve previously been reporting, Joan Laporta was always keen for Xavi to stay, and has been pushing to keep him. Laporta also never wanted to enter into concrete negotiations with other managers, because his focus was on keeping Xavi. Rafael Marquez is appreciated, but they never started proper conversations about appointing him because they were waiting for Xavi.
Barca ended up holding two separate meetings yesterday, the first between Deco and Xavi, and from what I’m hearing that was a crucial one. That then led to the second meeting with Deco, Laporta and other key figures on the board. But the first meeting was crucial for Deco to allow Xavi to explain his reasons and point of view, and then for Deco to present Barcelona’s ideas one more time to convince him to stay at the club.
So, Deco was really important, and then there was a meeting with Laporta to agree the conditions, shake hands, and confirm that Xavi is staying at Barcelona. Xavi will now be involved in the summer transfer window – he will work together with Deco on signings, outgoings, planning players’ futures. Xavi will again be a crucial figure at Barcelona.
Laporta always wanted Xavi, he never contacted any other manager because was still hoping to keep him. He believes Xavi is the perfect coach – he’s trusting young talents and knows the club better than anyone else. The meeting at night was crucial to convince Xavi and get the green light. In my opinion, this is a very good decision as Barca needed some continuity, rather than to take the project in a new direction.
Finally on Barcelona, I’ve been asked about rumours of Ferran Torres possibly leaving, and being linked with Aston Villa. I’m not aware of that, honestly. Xavi will discuss strategies with the club and with Deco in the next weeks – nothing has been decided about Ferran leaving as he’s still appreciated by the coach who always considered him an important player.
Liverpool in positive talks over hiring Arne Slot
It was also an important day in Liverpool’s manager search as they spent all day in negotiations with Arne Slot and Feyenoord. In the morning, Liverpool made contact to start the conversations with Feyenoord, and from what I understand, the Dutch club don’t want to say anything about it in public because the talks are going very well. Their relationship is good, talks have been very positive, and that’s also the case with Liverpool and their conversations with Slot’s agent Rafaela Pimenta.
Slot wants the Liverpool job, conversations so far have been super positive, so now it’s about reaching an agreement with Feyenoord. It’s going well and Slot is now the big favourite to become the next Liverpool manager.
Chelsea yet to decide on Mauricio Pochettino despite Ruben Amorim links
Many of you have been asking me about whether Chelsea are going to sack Mauricio Pochettino after the terrible game against Arsenal, a 5-0 defeat at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night, but the answer is no.
There is no change to Chelsea’s plans now – nothing is happening. Obviously Chelsea are discussing internally about the future, but a final decision on Pochettino’s future will be made closer to the end of the season.
We’ve seen some reports about Ruben Amorim being linked with Chelsea as a potential replacement for Pochettino, but I’m not aware of concrete contacts so far, we will see closer to the end of the season. For sure Amorim is keeping all the options open after West Ham talks ended up not advancing to anything concrete. But, again, decisions on Pochettino will be made at the end of the season, not now.
Staying with Chelsea, I’m aware of more links with Benjamin Sesko, but it’s not really new, as I’ve mentioned Chelsea’s interest before. Still, I think we have to be patient on Sesko – time for decisions is not now, on both club and player side. It’s one to discuss probably next month, but now is still not something decided or clear.
Bayern in concrete Ralf Rangnick negotiations
Bayern Munich are now in concrete negotiations with Ralf Rangnick. The Austria manager is discussing the project with Bayern – it’s not about the money, but about the project and the influence he can have on signings, on outgoings, and on the planning of the squad.
The project is crucial for Rangnick, but the conversations are now concrete and he’s the main candidate, with a decision expected soon.
Robin van Persie in advanced talks over the Heerenveen job
Another managerial situation to watch out for is with former Arsenal and Manchester United striker Robin van Persie, as I can confirm the reported links with the head coach job at Heerenveen.
Van Persie is really appreciated and highly rated as a potential manager. Talks with Heerenveen are advanced, it’s a concrete possibility and Van Persie is keen on having an opportunity as a first team coach. I’ve been hearing very good things about him, so it will be interesting to see how he gets on in his first role if he does end up securing this job.
Latest on Jeremie Frimpong to Manchester United links
Some Manchester United fans have asked me about reports from some media outlets about United intensifying talks over Jeremie Frimpong, but I don’t really have an update from what I’ve said before.
Man United have been scouting Frimpong for long time; he was already on the list before the World Cup in 2022. But Man United have not decided yet how much they want to invest on each position, this will be part of strategy in May and not now.
Frimpong has a release clause, as already mentioned, so let’s see if United or any other club will decide to trigger it, but this will come later, as I understand nothing is happening now.