Xavi: "Laporta betrayed me'
Reading Time: 5min | Mon. 09.03.26. | 19:45
Former Barca coach spoke about his departure from the club
Two years have passed since Xavi Hernandez left the bench of FC Barcelona. Some say he clashed with the ego of Joan Laporta. The Barça president couldn’t forgive him for openly saying after the match against UD Almería that the club didn’t have the money to compete with giants like Real Madrid and Paris Saint‑Germain. Soon afterward, Xavi lost his job. Since then he hasn’t appeared much in public, but now he has decided to fully open up in an interview with La Vanguardia and talk about everything that happened at Barca while he was the coach, the obstacles he faced, and what his relationship with Laporta is like today.
This is a conversation that could shake the foundations of Camp Nou. First of all, why did he finally decide to speak out?
“For several reasons. The main one is that I want to explain my side of the story. After leaving Barça, I didn’t want to make any statements out of respect for the club. Everyone knows how attached my family and I are to Barça. The story that people from the club spread is a lie, and I feel the need to explain everything. I’ve been carrying this inside me for a long time,” he said said.
Xavi does not hide that he also bears some responsibility and that things could have been done better.
“Of course we made mistakes. All of us in the coaching staff were self-critical. However, my expectations from the club decreased over time. When I arrived from Qatar, I told the president that if we didn’t sign certain players, I couldn’t remain the coach. We won the title and were competitive against Real Madrid, who won the Champions League. The very next year, my expectations dropped.”
The problem began when people from the top of the club started interfering in the sporting department.
“Sergio Busquets was leaving, and I asked them to bring me Martín Zubimendi. They told me they couldn’t because of financial reasons. Then they pushed Jordi Cruyff out of the club—they despised him for being Cruyff’s son. Those same people who swear by Johan Cruyff’s flag. I told them: ‘What are you talking about? We’ve just won the league.’ A month and a half later they also fired Mateu Alemany. That’s when I should have left as well. While we controlled the situation, the team progressed; once they started making decisions, the team regressed. That’s not a coincidence.” he explained.
Up to that point, his relationship with Laporta had been very good.
“He fired me, but he didn’t tell me the truth. He was under the influence of someone I believe is more powerful than the president himself: Alejandro Echevarría. In other words, Alejandro fired me.”
Alejandro Echevarría actually has no official position at Barcelona and does not receive a salary from the club, but many consider him the man who rules from the shadows, known as “Laporta’s advisor.” Xavi clearly believes he is much more than that.
“That’s how Barcelona functions—Alejandro Echevarría essentially runs it. I had a close, friendly relationship with him, which is why I felt the most betrayed by him. He completely betrayed me.”
What exactly happened that disappointed Xavi so much?
“In January of my last season, I told the club’s management that I wouldn’t continue after June, for the good of the club and for my personal well-being. We were winning, and until we lost to PSG in the Champions League and to Real Madrid in La Liga, they kept telling me I had to stay, trying to convince me. I even had a meeting with Echevarría. I told him I had doubts and wasn’t sure… But he replied that they were already preparing for next season and that I was in their plans. What happened next? After we were eliminated by PSG, Alejandro called me—I was coming back from school with my kids—and told me we had to meet immediately. The board had a meeting and most of them didn’t see me as the coach.”
On the other hand, Xavi also revealed that everything had been agreed for the return of Lionel Messi, but that it collapsed because of Laporta.“Leo had already signed a contract. In January 2023, after he won the World Cup, we contacted him and he said he wanted to return. The president started negotiations with Leo’s father. We had the green light from La Liga, but then Laporta rejected everything.”
The explanation given by the Barca president was, to say the least, strange.
“He told me directly that if Messi returned, a war would start against him and that he couldn’t allow that. Suddenly Leo stopped answering my calls. I called his father and said, ‘Jorge Messi, this can’t be happening.’ He asked me to talk to Laporta. For five months I insisted on bringing Messi. It looked like a done deal. Everything was ready for his last dance… I was dying for him to come… But for a while he didn’t answer me. It’s a shame, but the fault lies with others. Messi even thought I was involved in everything that damaged our relationship. But now everything is fine again.”
Xavi hasn’t spoken with Laporta since he was fired. Meanwhile, he signed his support for the presidential candidacy of Víctor Font. Would his victory mean Xavi’s return?“At the moment I think I will never return. I’ve already been there as a player and as a coach. My only interest is the truth—that Leo didn’t return to Barcelona because the president didn’t want him. Not because of La Liga or because Jorge Messi wanted too much money—that’s all a lie. The president and the people around him decided it because they convinced him he would lose part of his power.”
Still, Xavi claims he is not against Laporta, but rather in favor of Barcelona.
“They tell us: ‘Either you are with us or against us.’ That’s how they operate—that’s their modus operandi. What we need are healthy people, and for two decades we’ve been dealing with different ‘isms’: Cruyffism, Laportism, Sandroism, Nuñism…”
And how does Xavi feel after everything?
“Much calmer. My criticism was directed only at Alejandro Echevarría”.