Barcelona manager Xavi has revealed that he will leave the club at the end of the season. As the Catalan giants now plan for yet another change of direction it isn't a surprise that Arsenal's very own head coach is once more amongst the early candidates to replace him.
Mikel Arteta started his career out at Barcelona, coming through La Masia, before he moved to Rangers, Real Sociedad, Everton, and finally Arsenal. He is inextricably linked with the club and as one of the best young managers in the world it is only logical that his name crops up in this conversation.
Just one day after Jurgen Klopp announced that he would be stepping down from Liverpool come the end of the year Xavi followed suit in Spain, but in very different conditions. Barcelona are sat third in La Liga and could move to fourth if Atletico Madrid win their game in hand.
Real Madrid already hold a ten-point lead over their rivals and hammered them in the Spanish Super Cup earlier this month, asserting their dominance. Xavi has come under pressure in Catalonia for his management of the side despite leading them to an unexpected La Liga title last season.
“I have decided I will not continue beyond June 30,” Xavi said after Barcelona were beaten 5-3 by Villarreal on Saturday night. “It is a common sense decision for the good of the club. I took this decision days ago. I already knew it. But it’s time to make it public.
“I think the players could not free themselves up. I don’t want to be a problem for the club, but the opposite.” He added: “Right now, if I think with my head and think about the club, the solution and the best thing is for me to leave in June, that is how I feel.
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