Al Sadd insist on keeping their manager despite Barcelona staff’s travel to Qatar.
Barcelona are pushing to finalize a deal for Xavi Hernandez to take charge as their new manager. The club legend currently coaches the Qatari side Al-Sadd, with a transfer proving to be more complicated than anticipated.
Barcelona officials Rafa Yuste and Mateu Alemany travelled to Doha to reach an agreement with the club on Wednesday.
However, a new statement from the Qatari side further shows their unwillingness to release Xavi.
“We welcome the visit of the administrative delegation from Barcelona, and we appreciate and respect this,” Al-Sadd’s CEO Turki Al-Ali said in a statement.
“The club’s position is clear from the beginning – we are committed to keeping our coach Xavi with us and we cannot have him leave at this sensitive time of the season.”
Barcelona sacked Ronald Koeman earlier this week, with the Dutchman demanding a full compensation package of €12m.
According to reports from Spanish media, Xavi has a release clause of €10m at Al-Sadd. This means that hiring the new manager will cost Barca around €22m in total.
Al-Sadd’s potential demand for a release clause might complicate the transfer for Barca, given that the Spanish giants are already dealing with financial issues.
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