Deco’s crucial role in Xavi stay and why Laporta was eager to keep him at Barcelona

Barcelona president Joan Laporta was always keen to persuade Xavi to stay on as manager at the club, while Deco also had a key role in convincing him not to step down.

It was confirmed yesterday that Xavi would not be leaving Barca, and Fabrizio Romano has written in his Daily Briefing column about how the situation at the Nou Camp changed after meetings yesterday.

Xavi had recently announced that he’d be stepping down at the end of this campaign, but it now seems that Laporta never held talks with any other candidates as he viewed the Spanish tactician as the ideal candidate to stay on and take charge of this project.

Xavi is a legendary figure at Barcelona from his playing days, though his managerial career has proven a bit more of a challenge, with the Catalan giants winning La Liga last season but failing to reproduce that form this term.

Still, Romano is of the opinion that Barca made the right choice to keep Xavi and try for a period of stability instead of going in a different direction.

Xavi U-turn explained by Fabrizio Romano

“Xavi is set to stay as Barcelona manager next season. It’s confirmed, after just months ago Xavi announced he was going to leave at the end of this campaign. There were rumours about him possibly changing his mind, which he denied, but now he is staying after a crazy day at Barcelona,” Romano said.

“So, what really happened in the last 24 hours to change the story? As I’ve previously been reporting, Joan Laporta was always keen for Xavi to stay, and has been pushing to keep him. Laporta also never wanted to enter into concrete negotiations with other managers, because his focus was on keeping Xavi. Rafael Marquez is appreciated, but they never started proper conversations about appointing him