Five Barcelona stars including Robert Lewandowski feel mistreated by Xavi - Reports
Five Barcelona players, including Polish Striker Robert Lewandowski, have reportedly been feeling mistreated by coach Xavi, amid talks of the latter being sacked from the club this summer. According to Mundo Deportivo journalists, Fernando Polo and Sergio Sole, the other four players in the Barcelona squad who feel this way are Vitor Roque, Raphinha, Joao Felix and Ronald Araujo.
Xavi's future at Barca is reportedly hanging on a thread now, following his public comments about the club's poor financial situation ahead of Barca's fixture against Almeria on Thursday (May 16).
The coach had announced in January that he would leave the club in the summer. However, he changed his mind after a meeting with club president Joan Laporta and sporting director Deco and announced that he would stay in April.
However, things took a sour turn after he spoke about the club's poor economic situation in a pre-match press conference. Laporta has now decided to sack Xavi this summer, as per multiple reports in Spain.
During the aforementioned press conference, Xavi said that the Catalan club is not in 'the same condition' as other clubs in terms of financial fair play.
“Right now, we are not in the same conditions as other clubs with better fair play. The fans should know. But this doesn't mean that we won’t try to achieve our goals," the Spaniard said (via ESPN).
As per AS, Laporta wants to hire someone who is more positive about the future and is furious with Xavi for speaking about the club's finances publicly.
However, sacking Xavi at this stage could cost the Blaugrana financially. As per SPORT, it could cost the club around €18-20 million to sack the coach along with his staff. His current contract runs until 2025 and it remains to be seen how his wage is settled, in case the Spaniard is asked to leave the club.
Hansi Flick and Rafa Marquez are reportedly Barcelona's top choices to replace Xavi
Journalist Martinez Ferran has reported that former Bayern Munich coach Hansi Flick, current Barca Atletic coach Rafa Marquez and Al-Ittihad coach Marcelo Gallardo are the top contenders to replace Xavi at Barcelona. As per Fabrizio Romano, Rafa Marquez is the primary target on this list.
SPORT had previously reported that in case Xavi leaves, Barcelona would want to bring in Rafa Marquez to repeat the career trajectory of former coaches Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique. Both began their managerial career by coaching Barca Atletic.
Moreover, Laporta is believed to be keen on Marquez as he knows the La Masia youth academy in and out and he is low maintenance, per SPORT.
The club is reportedly also considering going for a top-level coach in 2025, such as Jurgen Klopp, Luis Enrique and Mikel Arteta.
Before Xavi changed his mind to stay for another season in April, Barca had reportedly also advanced talks with Hansi Flick. Journalist Tobi Altschäffl had reported that Flick was the prime candidate to replace Xavi in April.
Flick was also reportedly interested in joining Barcelona despite interest from Premier League sides and his former club, Bayern Munich. Multiple reports suggest that Flick is still waiting for Joan Laporta to call him.