Qatari Club Al Sadd Reaches Agreement With Xavi on His Transition to Barcelona as Head Coach

The news comes ten days after the Catalan giants sacked manager Ronald Koeman following the club displaying its worst performance in decades. The Dutchman was replaced by Sergi Barjuan, who is now serving as interim coach.

The Qatari football club Al Sadd has reached an agreement with Xavi Hernandez on his transition to Barcelona, the club has said in a statement posted on social media. Al Sadd stated that it had hammered out the details of the Spaniard's buy-out clause with Barcelona and agreed on future cooperation with the Catalan club.

The Spanish new website Sport previously reported that Barcelona was ready to pay $1 million in contract damages for Xavi, who was appointed manager of Al Sadd earlier this year. According to other reports, Barca shelled out $5.7 million for Xavi.

Al Sadd earlier refused to allow the manager to leave, with the club's chief executive Turki Al-Ali saying that it is impossible to part ways Xavi "at this sensitive time of the season".

Widely considered one of the best midfielders in the history of football, Xavi Hernandez previously confessed that it was his dream to return to Barcelona as a manager. During his time at Camp Nou, the Spaniard won 25 trophies, including the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, and FIFA Club World Cup. He was also in Spain's squad that twice became European Champions (2008, 2012) and won the 2010 FIFA World cup.

After leaving Barcelona in 2015 he joined Al Sadd, where he played for four years. This year he was appointed the club's manager and his success at the helm is said to have sparked the interest of Barcelona's new president Joan Laporta.

Barcelona has been displaying lacklustre performances over the past two years. In the 2019/20 season it suffered its worst defeat in the Champions League in 80 years, while the 2020/21 season saw the club exiting the tournament at the knockout stage.

Last year, Barcelona, which dominated the European football arena, came in third in the domestic tournament La Liga, while this year it has so far earned 16 point in 11 games. The club is now ranked ninth and lags nine points behind leaders Real Sociedad.