At the beginning of March, Joan Laporta was very clear when he stated that he wanted to renew Xavi Hernandez’s contract with Barcelona.
The team had just achieved an excellent result in the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg against Real Madrid and were starting to have a significant La Liga points gap over their rivals.
Everything was going well and the president made this announcement when the coach had one year left on his contract.
A few weeks ago, the first meeting took place between Barcelona and the players’ agents to officially convey their desire to renew Xavi for two more seasons.
With this, the coach would have a contract until the end of the president’s term, which ends in 2026.
So far so good, but things won’t be that simple.
When the parties started talking about money, they realized that the differences were fundamental.
Xavi has asked for a very significant salary increase compared to what he receives at the moment.
According to some sources they put him at a little more than double what he currently earns.
These requests have caught Barcelona, given that the economic situation of the club is not the best.
However, what Xavi is asking for is no exaggeration and his demands have nothing to do with what other coaches such as Diego Simeone, Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp charge, who are the highest paid.
Xavi made a move to Barcelona a year and a half ago after working in Qatar at the time and paid half of his release clause to sign for the Camp Nou side.
Al-Sadd demanded 5 million euros to release their coach and this amount was paid 50/50 between the club and Xavi.
In addition, the salary he currently receives is much lower than usual for a Barcelona coach.
