He might be playing for Al Sadd in Qatar right now, but the former Blaugrana midfielder Xavi Hernandez has made it clear that he wants to become the manager of FC Barcelona some time in the future.
Having come out of the Barcelona youth setup, Xavi has more or less been a one-club man through the entirety of his playing career. It was only last year that the 36-year-old made the switch to Al Sadd, paving the way for the likes of Ivan Rakitic and Arda Turan to take up his place in the Barcelona lineup.
However, Xavi recently said that he eventually wants to go back to the Catalan club, and become a coach or even the manager there.
“My ultimate objective is to coach Barcelona. I’m not hiding that. I want to work again for that house I consider a home,” Xavi said in an interview with the FourFourTwo magazine. “I have no doubts. I want to stay in football, being close to the pitch. I would hate being stuck in an office.
In fact, the eight time La Liga, four time Champions League, two time Euro and 2010 World Cup winner says that he is already preparing himself for a coaching role, by familiarising himself with the tactics and formations being currently used both in the Premier League and in La Liga.
“Whenever I have 10 minutes to myself, bang – the football goes on the TV. My wife knows that, and she hates football,” said Xavi.
“I’ll put on La Liga and keep an eye on the Premier League games, too. I’ll study the line-ups, and who’s scored, on my phone.”
Xavi can continue Barcelona’s managerial tradition
The Catalan club have had many top level managers over their long and illustrious history. The likes of Louis van Gaal, Sir Bobby Robson, Frank Rijkaard and the great Johan Cruyff have all coached FC Barcelona. However, the club have had an intriguing tradition of hiring only former midfielders as their managers in the last 13 years or so.
The five coaches who have managed the club during this period (Frank Rijkaard, Pep Guardiola, Tito Vilanova, Gerardo Martino, and Luis Enrique) have all been midfielders at some point of time in their playing careers. Being a former midfield great, Xavi stands a good chance of becoming a manager at the club one day.
