Revealed: The REAL reason Xavi is staying at Barcelona

A Spanish journalist has claimed he knows the real reason that Xavi has decided to remain in charge of Barcelona beyond this summer.

Reports emerged on Wednesday evening that Xavi had decided to perform a dramatic U-turn to stay at Barcelona after holding a meeting with the club's directors.

He had announced in January that he was set to leave at the end of the season, but is now due to honour his contract which expires in 2025.

Fans are likely to be delighted that the club legend is now staying, but it has been claimed that Barcelona's board were ready to let him go, only for financial issues to get in the way of his planned departure.

Spanish reporter Jordi Baste told Catalan radio station RAC1 that Barcelona's directors had agreed to end Xavi's contract this summer, but the 44-year-old wanted to be paid his entire salary for the final year of his deal.

Due to the club's financial situation, club president Joan Laporta was left with little option but to keep Xavi for another year as they could not afford to pay his wages and bring a new manager on board.

Barcelona's financial crisis has been well-documented in recent seasons, with LaLiga having to step in on multiple occasions.

They reduced the club's salary cap by more than £320m in September, and then brought it down again to £175m in February.

The club have been working under restrictions for some time following a number of huge transfer deals and financial mismanagement at the Nou Camp.

They have also had to pull several financial levers in recent transfer windows to get deals over the line.

Now, their financial situation appears to have left them in an awkward position when it comes to choosing who should be in the dugout moving forward, and they have been forced to stand