Barcelona are looking to bring in former midfielder Xavi as their new manager with reports claiming the Al Sadd boss has been offered a two year deal already.
Current Barca boss Ernesto Valverde has been put under huge pressure after the team threw away a lead against Atletico Madrid and were knocked out of the Supercopa semi-final.
According to Spanish outlet AS, sporting director Eric Abidal and CEO Oscar Grau flew to Doha for a two hour meeting with Xavi in which they offered the 39-year-old the chance to take over from Valverde for next season.
The report claims that the meeting was portrayed as an informal meeting, due to the friendship between Xavi and Abidal from their time playing together with the team, but he was offered a two and a half year deal.
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Xavi is currently in charge of Qatari club Al-Sadd and club General manager Turk Al-Ali tried to cool the rumours saying, "The issue of Xavi going to Barcelona is normal and expected because he will be at his club and it's his first home and he must return there in the future, but as of today, Xavi is the coach of Al Sadd.
"Xavi and his team are focusing on tomorrow's match against Al-Rayyan, and we know that a club with the size and professionalism of Barcelona will take to official channels to speak of such matters."
Valverde has continued to win trophies with Barca, winning La Liga twice and the Copa del Rey, and they currently top the table but the former Atletico Bilbao manager has also had many failures.
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Two years in-a-row they've thrown away commanding first leg leads in the Champions League to be knocked out by Roma and Liverpool and after looking on for a treble last season came away with just the league, after losing to Valencia in the Copa final.
On Thursday the Spanish champions faced Atleti in the Supercopa, which is a four team tournament this season, and found themselves 1-0 down when Koke opened the scoring a minute after half-time.
Goals from Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann but the Catalan side ahead after 62 minutes but Diego Simeone's team then had their own comeback and won the game through goals from Alvaro Morata in the 81st minute and Angel Correa in the 86th.
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The loss means the two title winners, Barca and Valencia, were knocked out of the competition, leaving Atleti to face city rivals Real in the final.
Should Valverde be replaced?
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Xavi, Football News, Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Lionel Messi, Champions League, Spain, Ernesto Valverde, Real Madrid, La Liga