By Safiu Kehinde
Spanish giant, Barcelona have confirmed the return of Xavi Hernandez as their head coach via the club’s Twitter handle earlier today.
The much-awaited return finally materialized after Xavi’s former employee, Al-Saad confirmed the departure of the Barcelona icon in a statement released yesterday.
Xavi, who left Barcelona in 2015, now looks set to sail his boyhood club out of struggling form they found themselves this season. The La Masia graduate takes the wheel from Ronald Koeman as he prepares to be unveiled as the new Barça coach.
“It’s time to come home. Welcome, Xavi,” Barca had tweeted earlier today.
“It wasn’t goodbye, it was see you later,” the tweet further read, accompanied with a video montage of when Xavi left in 2015.
In an official statement released by Barcelona, Xavi will be presented as new coach on Monday, November 8, having agreed to take the club through the current season and two more seasons.
“It is expected that Xavi Hernandez will arrive in Barcelona this weekend and that on Monday 8 November his presentation as new FC Barcelona first team coach will take place in an event open to the public at Camp Nou,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, the Blaugrana hoped for a return of their famous Tiki-taka pattern of playing — a technique which Xavi was one of the key initiator under former boss, Pep Guardiola. The free-flow mode of playing was flagged off by Ronald Koeman who introduced a conventional and reactive mode of playing. With the loss of talisman, Lionel Messi, the Barcelona team looked disoriented under Koeman.
The return of Xavi, however, brings hope of a return to Barcelona’s true identity which the board looks forward to.
“One of the greatest midfield maestros of all time, he helped redefine the art with his creative mind, pinpoint passing and sublime ability to read the game,” the club’s statement read in praise of their former midfield maestro.
