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Xavi Being Lined Up For Return To Barcelona

Xavi Being Lined Up For Return To Barcelona

The Barcelona legend is still playing in Qatar but could be brought back to the Camp Nou to help the club in the post Messi era.

Ryan Sidle

Ryan Sidle

Xavi Hernandez is being lined up for a return to the Camp Nou to become Barcelona's sporting vice-president at the Nou Camp where his role will be to prepare for life without Lionel Messi.

The talk last season was whether or not Pep Guardiola's Manchester City could be considered the best team in Premier League history but with Barcelona his side was considered one of the best ever.

It's no wonder really consider everything they won, the style in which they won it and the players that the former Barca midfielder had at his disposal.

Of course any side with Lionel Messi in it is going to be good but Guardiola also had the likes of Thierry Henry, Samuel Eto'o, Pedro, Sergio Busquets, Carles Puyol, Dani Alves and the midfield duo of Xavi and Andres Iniesta to work with.

For a while the arguments against Messi, because there's always some fools, were whether he could do it on a cold Tuesday night in Stoke, the barometer for greatness, and whether he was as good without Xavi and Iniesta- just proving how highly they were thought of.

Xavi is now playing in Qatar for Al Sadd SC but the 39 year old is coming to the end of his playing career. Victor Font, who is a candidate to be Barcelona president has revealed, he wants Xavi as part of his project, saying:

"I'm in tune with Xavi, in relation to the project, and personally I love talking to him about football.

"I hope he can lead our footballing project.

"We have a lot of challenges for the next five or 10 years.

"A key one, and one of the first, is the management of the end of Lionel Messi (as he gets towards retiring)."

Xavi could help to replace Messi, not an easy task. Image: PA Images
Xavi could help to replace Messi, not an easy task. Image: PA Images

Xavi is an ambassador for the Qatar World Cup in 2022 and the presidency elections aren't until 2021, although Font is already seen as a front runner.

As well as seemingly having the midfielder on board his plans have been backed by former club captain Puyol as well as club sponsor Grifols.

Puyol backs the plan to get Xavi on board. Image: PA Images
Puyol backs the plan to get Xavi on board. Image: PA Images

Messi, the club's all time top scorer, would be 33 by the time Font took over and, whilst he could still play for a number of years after that, the club would really be starting to plan for life without their star man.

Then Xavi will really have the chance to show how influential he can be without the forward.

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: Xavi, Football News, Barcelona, Messi, Lionel Messi, Champions League, Spanish football, La Liga