Barcelona

Xavi confirms he rejected Barcelona job

By Matt Law, Football EditorPublished: 16 January 2020 1:34 PM

Xavi says that he turned down the chance to replace Ernesto Valverde as head coach of Barcelona as it was "too soon" to take the job.

Xavi has revealed that he turned down the chance to replace Ernesto Valverde as head coach of Barcelona.

The club's legendary midfielder was strongly linked with the position before Quique Setien was announced as the Spanish outfit's new manager on Monday.

Xavi has said that he "received an offer" from the Catalan giants but felt that it was "too soon" for him to take such a huge position in the early stages of his coaching career.

"It's true that I received an offer from Barcelona," AS quotes Xavi as saying. "[Barca directors] Eric Abidal and Oscar Grau made the offer, but I didn't accept it because I felt it was too soon for me to coach Barcelona. That doesn't mean it's not still my dream to coach Barcelona one day."

The 39-year-old, who is currently in charge of Al-Sadd in Qatar, made close to 800 first-team appearances during his time at Camp Nou, winning eight league titles and four Champions League crowns.

Setien's first match as Barca boss will be against Granada in La Liga on Sunday night.