Barcelona presidential candidate Victor Font has confirmed his desire to appoint Xavi as manager and believes that the club legend could have a similar impact to that of Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.
Xavi has regularly been linked to the Camp Nou job since hanging up his boots last year, but remains in charge of Qatari side Al-Sadd having turned down the role following the sacking of Quique Setien earlier this summer.
Font has made no secret of his desire to replace Ronald Koeman with the club's all-time record appearance-maker should he win the presidential election, though, and believes that Xavi could go on to emulate Ferguson, who spent a trophy-laden 27 years as manager of Man United.
"We decided he is the best person to lead the project in years to come - that happened four or five years ago when we were starting to define the project," Font told BBC Sport.
"We saw he has unique leadership skills and unique team management skills - he has everything that one needs to take the leadership role off the pitch.
"We see him as a key figure in the project in the years to come, taking more of a general manager type of role. It's what Alex Ferguson was at Manchester United. The hope is that a legend that has all these skills, like Xavi, can play a similar role in the years to come at FC Barcelona."
Xavi spent 24 years as a player at Barcelona, making 767 appearances and helping the club to 25 trophies, including four Champions Leagues and eight La Liga titles.
Barney Corkhill
