Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez, 44, was offered the South Korea A national team head coaching job earlier this year but turned it down, according to reports.
Germany’s Mundo Deportivo reported on Thursday (Jan. 24), “A few weeks after Xavi announced his departure from Barcelona (in January) at the end of the 2023-2024 season, he was offered the job as head coach of the South Korean national soccer team. Xavi was grateful for the interest. However, he declined the offer, despite the certainty that he will not be at Barcelona after June 30,” the report said.
Barcelona is preparing to say goodbye to Xavi once again. The Korean Football Association (KFA) is looking for a replacement for Jürgen Klinsmann, who was fired in February. According to reports, the KFA approached Xavi after he announced his intention to resign from Barcelona and offered him the job of national team coach.
Xavi returned to his hometown club in November 2021 when he succeeded Ronald Koeman as Barcelona head coach. 안전놀이터 He won the La Liga title in the 2022-2023 season, but was heavily criticized for poor performances and a lackluster cup run.
Xavi eventually announced that he would leave the club after this season.
He made the surprise announcement in a press conference after a loss to Villarreal in January, saying that “it was time for a change” and informed the club of his intention to resign. Barcelona accepted.
The situation has changed. After Xavi’s farewell, Barcelona continued to perform well, reaching the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League (UCL). They fell short in the quarterfinals, but Ronald Araujo’s early exit proved fatal.
As public opinion changed, so did Xavi’s and Barcelona’s minds. The two sides came to an agreement again, and on March 25, Xavi’s stay was officially announced. “The project is not over yet,” he said, insisting that staying was the best option for the club.
But Laporta’s mind changed again less than a month later. In a press conference ahead of the Almeria game, Xavi spoke about the club’s financial difficulties and said that with the current squad, it was difficult to compete with the top teams in Europe, including Real Madrid.
This drew the ire of Laporta.
“Laporta called Xavi to his home last month to convince him to stay, and he was promised that he would see him fighting for the team and everything,” Mundo Deportivo said. He doesn’t understand that Xavi’s words have changed.”
In the end, Laporta fired Xavi again and will begin the search for a new coach. The Barcelona board is also reportedly on board. There are already local reports that former Germany national team coach Jupp Heynckes has a 95% chance of getting the job. The Barcelona board and Flick have even held talks in London.
The news of Xavi’s dismissal is expected to be officially announced after the final match of the season between Barcelona and Sevilla on April 27th. Xavi said he hasn’t heard anything and that nothing has changed, but it seems his future has already been decided.
“The Barcelona board will inform Xavi early next week that he will no longer be Barcelona’s coach,” Mundo Deportivo reported.
The KFA has been in talks with several foreign coaches. Jesse Massi was the favorite to take the job, but he was recently linked to a job with the Canadian national soccer team. 온라인 슬롯 Talks with Iraqi national soccer team coach Jesús Casas also failed to reach an agreement.
For now, the A team will be coached by former Ryan City Sailors head coach Kim Do-hoon for the first two A matches in June.