Joan Laporta’s advisor discloses he wasn’t in favor of former Barcelona coach staying | OneFootball

The departure of Xavi Hernandez from his position as the head coach of FC Barcelona at the end of the last season was one of the more controversial episodes that the Catalan club has gone through in recent history.

After announcing his decision to leave the Blaugrana team at the end of the season, Xavi was apparently convinced by Laporta to remain the team’s trainer going forward, before eventually being dismissed at the end of the last season.

In hindsight, this development has gone on to favor Barcelona, as the Catalans are playing very well under Hansi Flick.

However, the way Xavi was treated still puts some shade on the club, and as SPORT has reported, one of Laporta’s advisors, Enric Masip, has now opened up on this episode, and talked about his own role in the developments that led to Xavi’s dismissal.

Masip claimed that it was Xavi himself who wanted to continue after having announced his decision to leave: “Evaluating it isn’t easy. You can’t say it went perfectly or badly. He decided to leave in January, but then he wanted to stay. The president, being who he is, allowed it. In any other case, the president wouldn’t have permitted it.”

“My opinion is that these situations usually don’t turn out well. With a touch of Barça spirit, he convinced Laporta. During that famous dinner, Xavi explained himself.”

“I advised Laporta not to let Xavi continue. I’ve been in locker rooms, and when a coach says they’re leaving… Afterward, I shared my opinion. There wasn’t unanimity. When I arrived at the president’s house, they had already spoken and decided he would stay. I’m a club man, so I moved forward. I later spoke with Xavi. I’ve always been straightforward. I had no problem with him.”

These words from Masip provide some details of how the episode of Xavi’s departure from Barcelona went, as there has been a lot of ambiguity about this subject. But the important thing is that the club has benefitted from this decision, and even Xavi has seemingly gotten over this issue as he held an amicable meeting with Flick recently.