Xavi decision DESTROYS Barcelona’s transfer plans

Robin Bairner

• 24 May 2024 17:47 BST
• 3 min read

Barcelona have taken the decision to sack head coach Xavi, with the head coach to depart at the end of the 2023/24 campaign.

It is a call that president Joan Laporta will not have made lightly. Indeed, it threatens to jeopardise what transfer plans Barcelona had in place.

Hansi Flick, who is expected to be named as the new boss, will be arriving at a club that has taken a dramatic policy change to part company with their incumbent manager.

READ MORE: Why did Barcelona sack Xavi?

The consequences in the transfer market promise to be seismic.

On Wednesday, Mundo Deportivo outlined the number of deals that depend on Xavi. These plans can effectively be torn up and started again.

Joshua Kimmich is one of the transfers that threatens to be compromised. The Bayern Munich star had been sold on the Barcelona project by Xavi.

READ MORE: Flick approves first transfer as Barcelona manager

Kimmich’s relationship with Flick, meanwhile, appears to be a tense one. During the 2022 World Cup, a team talk in which the versatile midfielder disagreed with the former Germany head coach was screened on an All or Nothing Amazon documentary.

The deal for Martin Zubimendi of Real Sociedad? Likely to be abandoned, according to the Catalan source.

Xavi Simons is unlikely to return to the club without his namesake while a deal for Athletic Club’s Nico Williams was being spearheaded by the soon-to-be-former coach.

Xavi’s departure likely to lead to players leaving

Several players are likely to follow Xavi out the door.

Marc-Andre ter Stegen is reportedly considering a move to the Saudi Pro League, while Joao Cancelo is likely to depart as he got along very well with the Spanish tactician.

Barcelona’s management might even try to force out Frenkie de Jong or Raphinha.

READ MORE: Latest Barcelona transfer rumours

Further underlining the flux that Barca find themselves in, Ronald Araujo, who had recently been in dispute with Xavi, and Joao Felix are now seen as having a stronger chance of remaining. Vitor Roque’s future is also likelier to remain at the Camp Nou side.

What had promised to be a busy summer for Barcelona has just become even more complicated with this late decision to sack Xavi.