Why are Barcelona cutting head coach Xavi Hernández’s contract extension by a year?

Xavi Hernández is set to extend his contract as Barcelona head coach this week, although the terms of his new deal won’t be what we all thought they were going to be. The former midfielder has been locked in talks with the club for several months and had been expected to prolong his stay in the dugout until 2026. However, he will now only be offered a one-year extension until 2025.

Barça still in financial trouble

A number of different factors have led to the change, starting with Barça’s delicate financial situation, which has been well documented. Xavi’s contract, as well as those of the players, is part of the club’s wage bill and must be taken into consideration when it comes to meeting Financial Fair Play regulations.

When the 43-year-old left his position as manager of Qatari team Al Sadd, he re-joined the Catalans in November 2021 on an initial contract which was much less lucrative than coaches at other top European clubs. The understanding was that once Barcelona had returned to their former glories (i.e. winning LaLiga and competing in the Champions League), Xavi would be offered a pay rise, which he has already tried to negotiate in the past, mainly on behalf of his assistants, brother Óscar Hernández and Sergio Alerge.

Sporting director Deco prefers “Guardiola-style” extensions

The arrival of Deco as sporting director following the departures of Jordi Cruyff and Mateu Alemany has also had an impact. The ex-Portugal international, a former teammate of Xavi’s, is in favour of offering short contract extensions, similar to those Pep Guardiola agreed when he was in charge at Camp Nou. The Manchester City boss initially signed a two-year deal as manager and opted to stay on one year at a time after that. However, on that occasion, the decision was Guardiola’s, whereas Deco and Barça now hold all the cards.

After re-joining the club in November 2021, Barcelona won both LaLiga and the Spanish Super Cup last season, ending a barrel spell in terms of trophies. This season, the goal is for the Catalans to challenge for the Champions League once again, although there appear to be plenty of obstacles standing in their way.

Barcelona obstacles in the 2023-24

The club will play at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Montjuïc for the entirety of the season due to Camp Nou being redeveloped, while their pulling power in the transfer market has been limited, spending just €3.5 million ($3.75 million) this summer on Girona midfielder Oriel Romeu. That said, they were able to bring Portuguese duo João Félix and João Cancelo in on loan deals, while Brazilian wonderkid Vitor Roque is set to join for €60 million ($64.4 million) in January.

But despite the desire to become competitive again against the very best teams in Europe, perhaps Xavi’s main challenge for 2023-24, which he knows as well as anyone, is to get his team back to playing the “Barça way”.