The Reason Why Laporta Dismissed Xavi
The president of FC Barcelona, Joan Laporta, justified the decision to part ways with Xavi Hernández as head coach of the first team, stating that "he made some statements in which he changed his discourse" regarding the confidence he had in the squad to compete for all titles next season.
"When Xavi said he wanted to continue, I only asked him one question: Do you believe in this team? And he responded: Yes, president, I will make them champions," he revealed in an interview with Barça One, the Catalan club's streaming platform.
However, Laporta perceived that "a new boost" was needed for the sports project after Xavi's press conference before the LaLiga match against Almería and a conversation between the coach from Egar and the sporting director, Anderson Luis de Souza “Deco”, to whom he requested "substantial changes in the squad".
Quite the opposite of his successor on the Barcelona bench, the German Hansi Flick, who, according to Laporta, "firmly believes in this squad and sees himself winning and competing against any team."
Laporta had already wanted to hire Flick when he first became president, "but at that time I couldn't bring him on because he had already signed with the German national team and he wanted to honor that commitment."
"Since Xavi said he was leaving at the end of the season, Hansi made himself available to us, has been studying our squad, and believes he can get a lot of performance out of the players," revealed Laporta.
Regarding the new Barça coach, the president highlighted that he is "a calm, mature, responsible man with experience," who is "very excited" to lead this project and "shares our unconditional commitment to La Masia."
"We have asked Flick for hard work and professionalism. We told him he is here to win, and he embraces that," explained Laporta, who also mentioned that Deco is "very clear" about what the team needs: "a midfielder and a winger," and that "there will be changes to improve physical preparation and also in the internal discipline rules with the aim of further professionalizing the squad."
The objective, according to Laporta, is to maintain the core of this season, as he considers it "a young squad that needs more time playing together." Therefore, he denied that it is necessary, despite the club's delicate financial situation, "to make a major sale" this summer.
In fact, the Barça president explained that Deco "is working to keep the Joaos (Joao Cancelo and Joao Félix) for another year," as Flick "considers them to be high-quality players." So much so that "he was already interested in signing Joao Félix when he was coaching Bayern Munich," he revealed.
"I believe Joao Félix could have been utilized more, that he could have had a more significant role within the team because he has extraordinary quality," opined Laporta, speaking personally.
