Barcelona legend Xavi has revealed that he did receive an offer from the club to be their coach and has explained why he decided to turn it down.
The Catalan giants confirmed earlier this week that they had parted company with Ernesto Valverde, and subsequently Quique Setien was the man appointed to take his place.
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However, Xavi has now confirmed widespread media speculation that he received an offer to take the job, and has given his reason for why he decided not to take that opportunity right now.
“Yes, I received an offer from Barcelona in the presence of Eric Abidal and Òscar Grau but I did not accept it, especially because it is too early to train Barcelona, but it will remain my dream in the future to be a Barça coach,” the Al Sadd boss told the media, as reported by Mundo Deportivo.
In truth, it’s hard to disagree with his thinking on this one as given he’s still in the early stages of his coaching career and hasn’t managed at the top level as of yet, many would surely argue that he wasn’t ready to take the Barcelona job just yet.
Time will tell where his journey takes him next or if he remains with Al Sadd for the foreseeable future, but his time with the reigning La Liga champions will surely come eventually if he impresses as a coach, and he also showed his class when commenting on Setien getting the job at the Nou Camp.
“I love Barcelona’s new coach, I love his way of working and I hope he succeeds with the team,” he added.
Barcelona begin life under their new coach on Sunday night, when they host Granada at the Nou Camp.