4 reasons why Barcelona lucked out with Xavi's U-turn

After weeks of speculation, Xavi has now confirmed that has reneged on his decision to leave Barcelona in the summer.

The ex-midfielder had previously stated his intention to depart back in January, however an impressive run of form and the emergence of a number of new La Masia stars has seemingly led to him opting to stay put.

Here's why that's great news for Barcelona.

2024 form

This past week aside (in which they lost to Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid), Barcelona have actually been pretty damn good under Xavi in 2024.

Their run of 13 games unbeaten in all competitions - scoring 26 goals and conceding just nine - between the end of January and mid-April was rather remarkable, and proof that when Xavi has his favoured personnel to call upon, he certainly can get a tune out of Barcelona.

The 2022/23 season

Speaking of Xavi's ability to get a tune out of the current Barca squad, the legendary former midfielder inspired the club to a stunning La Liga title triumph during the 2022/23 season - La Blaugrana's first in four years.

Xavi's Barca were head and shoulders above the rest of La Liga in 2022/23, besting Real Madrid by a whopping ten points to coast to the title.

The accumulation of 88 points from 38 games was thanks in large part to Xavi's ability to set up defensively, with his side conceding a measly 20 goals through the campaign.

Trust in Barcelona's youth

Pau Cubarsi, Lamine Yamal, Fermin Lopez, Gavi, Pedri, and Alejandro Balde. That's quite a list of young footballers, but it perhaps wouldn't be as impressive had Xavi not rocked up in Catalunya in November 2021.

The manager has been firmly committed to utilising the seemingly endless fountain of talent in La Masia, and Barca have reaped the benefits of this commitment - seeing the likes of Yamal and Cubarsi becomeintegral members of the starting lineup as a result.

It's no surprise that Barca's vice-president Rafa Yuste said that a key reason for Xavi's decision to stay at the club is due to these young players.

There's no one else

Here's a list of some of the managers that were linked with taking over at Barcelona in the summer:

• Hansi Flick
• Thomas Tuchel
• Rafael Marquez

None of those managers jump out as an upgrade on Xavi, do they?

As Liverpool and Bayern Munich have found in recent weeks, finding a top quality manager that is available this summer is proving to be quite a difficult task. And with the Liverpool and Bayern jobs being more appealing that the Barca job (no offence, but look at Barca's financial situation), it's likely that La Blaugrana would've been third on any top manager's list of potential destinations.

With that mind, Barca fans should be breathing a sigh of relief over Xavi's decision to stay put.

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