Xavi says he asked Barcelona to sign Martin Zubimendi as a replacement for Sergio Busquets when he was in charge at the Camp Nou.
Zubimendi had been been earmarked as a potential Real Madrid or Barcelona player for several years after establishing himself as one of the finest central midfielders in Spanish football while playing for boyhood side Real Sociedad.
But Liverpool jumped to the front of the queue for Zubimendi’s signature in the summer of 2024 and appeared on the cusp of a deal, only for the 27-year-old to stay put at Sociedad for another season.
Twelve months later, then Madrid manager Xabi Alonso placed Zubimendi – a player he had worked with at Sociedad – at the top of his wishlist to help fill the void left by club legends Toni Kroos and Luka Modric.
Bernabeu bosses were unwilling to meet Sociedad’s asking price for Zubimendi, though, and the Spain international would go on to sign for Arsenal in a deal worth in the region of £60million.
Zubimendi has since made 40 appearances in all competitions across an impressive debut season with Arsenal, with the Gunners sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League and battling it out for silverware on all four fronts.
For the most part, Barcelona were viewed as outsiders in the race to sign Zubimendi before the Euro 2024 winner decided to up sticks and leave San Sebastian for north London last year.
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But now, in an explosive, tell-all interview with La Vanguardia, Xavi has lifted the lid on his interest in signing Zubimendi while delving into the difficulties he encountered before his dismissal at Barca.
Asked why he has decided to speak out two years on, Xavi told the Spanish newspaper: ‘For several reasons. The main one is that I want to explain my side of the story.
‘After leaving, I decided not to make any statements out of respect for Barca. People know how much I love the club. My whole family are Barca fans.
‘The story being told by the club is completely false, and I feel the need to explain myself – it’s something I’ve been carrying inside me, and I need to clarify it.’
Though Xavi admits he made mistakes while in charge of Barca, he feels he was let down repeatedly by the club failing to meet his ‘expectations’ when it came to buying and selling players in the transfer market.
‘Of course we made mistakes and we’ve been very self-critical, both personally and then with the staff through meetings,’ the legendary ex-Barca and Spain midfielder continued.
‘To summarise briefly, I’d say my expectations of the club decreased over time.
‘When I arrived from Qatar, in my first summer as manager, I even told the president that if we didn’t sign certain players, I wouldn’t continue because we couldn’t compete at the highest level and he listened to me.
‘We won La Liga, we were competitive against Real Madrid with Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, and others, who had just won the Champions League.
‘The following summer, those expectations dropped, and that’s what I regret.’
Pushed to elaborate, Xavi went on: ‘Sergio Busquets was leaving so I asked them to sign Zubimendi and they told me no for financial reasons.
‘Then Jordi Cruyff left because of the contempt they showed him – I mean, Cruyff’s son. They, who carry the banner of Cruyffism… I told him, “What are you saying? We just won the league”, and a month and a half later, they let Mateu Alemany go as a director.
‘At that point, I should have left too. While we were in control, the team kept improving, but as soon as they started making the decisions, and not by chance, the team went down.’
Asked if he shared a good personal relationship with Barcelona president Joan Laporta during his two-and-a-half year managerial spell, Xavi responded: ‘Yes, very good.
‘In fact, I signed for Barca thanks to him, but he ended up letting me down.’
Xavi holds no ill will towards Hansi Flick, revealing how the German came to his house to apologise after replacing him in the hot seat in Catalonia in 2024.
‘We message each other constantly,’ the 46-year-old explained.
‘I always congratulate him on the team, we talk about football… In fact, he once came to my house because of a difficult situation and that was very kind of him.
‘He came to apologise when I asked him if the club had actually been talking to him while I was the manager, during those two or three weeks when the club had already decided to let me go but no one told me directly.
‘He apologised, we talked for over two hours, it was fantastic.
‘The club told him not to say anything to me,and that’s why he came to my house to apologise. He’s a good guy, very honourable, and I’m glad he’s doing well.’
Later on in the wide-ranging interview, Xavi revealed how he was desperate for Lionel Messi to return three years ago – blaming ‘those who are there now’ for the missed opportunity.
‘Leo was already signed. In January 2023, after winning the World Cup, we got in touch and he told me he was keen to come back, and I saw it that way,’ he said.
‘We talked until March and I told him, “Well, when you give me the OK, I’ll tell the president because I see it as a good fit for him from a footballing perspective”, so the president started negotiating the contract with Leo’s father.
‘We had the green light from LaLiga but it was the president who was throwing everything back.’
Xavi went on: ‘I was dying for Leo to come back and, even now, I still think he would help the team score goals, provide those final passes, without a doubt. He’s going to play in a World Cup!
‘Leo would triumph again at the Camp Nou and it was his wish and mine.
‘He knows it, he knows it now, but there was a time when I couldn’t get in touch with him. It was a shame, but it’s the fault of those who are there now.’
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