Anger at Al Sadd over Xavi-to-Barcelona links
For many, it is a foregone conclusion that Xavi Hernández will be the next permanent coach of Barcelona and this has angered directors at Al Sadd. The Catalan coach still has a contact with the Qatari club until 2023 and this was made clear in a tweet posted by the team this weekend.
In response to what’s circulating recently, the #AlSadd management reaffirms that Xavi has a two-year contract with the club and is fully focused on the team’s upcoming matches, to maintain our lead at the top of the league and to defend the title.#AlwaysAlSadd pic.twitter.com/dJP4g0xZBx
— 🏆 #76 Al Sadd SC | نادي السد (@AlsaddSC) October 29, 2021
Now, MARCA are reporting that there is some irritation at Al Sadd. They’re not happy about the assumption that they’re about to lose their coach given that, according to the Spanish newspaper, Barcelona haven’t yet been in touch.
Even though Barça president Joan Laporta discussed Xavi in detail during a press conference on Friday, he hasn’t opened negotiations with Al Sadd at this point in time. When that happens, it is believed that Barcelona will find a way to free Xavi from his current contract and that the Catalan club can appease Al Sadd by promising to play a lucrative friendly between the teams in the future, but the Qatari directors want a formal offer to be made before assumptions about Xavi are expressed.
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The reason why Al Sadd want to keep Xavi until Wednesday
Given that Barcelona turned in another poor performance against Alavés on Saturday, some Blaugrana fans will hope Xavi can be brought in before the crunch Champions League clash with Dynamo Kyiv on Wednesday. The LaLiga side need a win to boost their chances of progress to the last 16. But, having Xavi in the dugout in Ukraine is unlikely for a variety of reasons.
One of those reasons is that Al Sadd have a huge game of their own on Wednesday, as they have their big rivalry match against title challengers Al Duhail. Al Sadd’s gap to Al Duhail at the top of the table is just three points.
After that match is played, and with the November international break coming up, Xavi could finally sort out his contract situation and return to Catalonia. But, Al Sadd want things to be done the right way.
