The 44-year-old announced in January he would step down as boss this summer.

But, with president Joan Laporta keen for him to remain, the former Barcelona and Spain midfielder has performed a U-turn.

Xavi took charge in November 2021 after leaving Qatari club Al Sadd and guided Barca to the Spanish title in his first full season in charge in 2022-23.

However, they are 11 points behind La Liga leaders Real Madrid with six games left to play in the current campaign.

Barcelona exited the Champions League last week following a quarter-final defeat by Paris St-Germain.

Xavi, who won 25 honours during an illustrious playing career at Barcelona, had said he felt “liberated” following the announcement that he would step down from the role at the end of the season.

When he announced he was leaving after a defeat by Villarreal, he felt he was not being protected by the club, and there was no clear direction.

A meeting took place at Laporta’s house on Wednesday, and the pressure from the club for him to stay was obvious.

If Xavi is unable to improve the team by the end of the 2024–25 season, Barcelona will look to persuade one of the high-profile managers out of contract, including Pep Guardiola, Luis Enrique, and Mikel Arteta.

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Xavi won more than 20 major trophies as a player at the club and in La Liga in his first full season as manager last year.

“I represent Barca way better, although others may have different opinions,” said Luis Enrique, adding, “Just look at all the stats and the trophies won.”

Luis Enrique, 53, spent the past eight years of his playing career at Barcelona, before coaching the side between 2014 and 2017, in which Xavi was playing.

Xavi played more than 500 games for the club and returned as coach in November 2021, but is set to leave at the end of the season.

“I have to say that I don’t know Xavi at all as a coach, only as a team-mate and as a player because I worked with him,” said Luis Enrique.

“I know Barca very well and I know their players but I don’t know if that is an advantage or not. Emotionally this means a lot to me because of my experiences there.”

Five-time champions Barcelona are playing at this stage of the competition for the first time in four years and Xavi thinks his side are in a good moment.

“It is a key moment. The word after being out of the quarter-finals for four years is excitement,” said Xavi.

“We can dream again. We think we are at the best moment of the season, but we have one of the best teams in Europe in front of us, with one of the best coaches in Luis Enrique. It is a team built to win the Champions League.”

Xaxi added that he had a “great relationship” with Luis Enrique and the club can be proud of the “Barca DNA” that he shares with Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola and Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.

“From here on it’s up to the players to find the DNA that identifies us so much,” said Xavi.

“Football is unpredictable but we’ll try to control the variations. Luis Enrique has a wide range of talent at his disposal but we’ll try to play them [PSG] as equals.”

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The former Barca midfielder, who took over as coach in 2021, led the club to their first La Liga title since 2019 and the Spanish Super Cup last season.

“We arrived at a difficult time, in unfavourable circumstances,” Xavi told a press conference ahead of Saturday’s game against Celta Vigo.

“Last year we won two important titles. We’re in a process of transition.”

Xavi said Barca had just played “their two best matches” since he took over, with 5-0 wins over both Real Betis in La Liga and Royal Antwerp in the Champions League group stage.

Xavi took over from Ronald Koeman, two years after his retirement as a player, on a contract until June 2024, winning 60 of the 96 matches he managed in all competitions.

Barcelona are currently second in La Liga, two points behind Real Madrid.

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Barcelona president Joan Laporta said he is in contact with the 41-year-old former Barca midfielder following the sacking of Ronald Koeman on Wednesday.

Koeman was dismissed after a 1-0 away defeat by Rayo Vallecano.

But Al Sadd tweeted: “Xavi has a two-year contract and is fully focused on the team’s upcoming matches.”

Xavi is favourite to replace Koeman and Laporta said: “I have always said one day [Xavi] will be Barca’s head coach but I don’t know when.

“We have great references about Xavi at Al Sadd. All our reports about Xavi are positive. We can talk a lot about Xavi, but I cannot give you more details. He is in all the papers, but we also have other options.”

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Laporta was asked whether he waited too long to make a decision on Dutchman Koeman’s future.

“Probably, yes,” he said. “Looking back it is easy to analyse, we felt Koeman deserved confidence to recover some injured players and it was a way to motivate the manager.

“I looked for some positives. Probably we had to make an earlier decision, I assume the responsibilities of this decision.”

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The former Spain midfielder has been Al Sadd’s boss since his playing career ended with the Qatari club in May.

He said Barcelona chief executive Oscar Grau and sporting director Eric Abidal offered him the manager’s job before sacking Ernesto Valverde on Monday.

The La Liga leaders instead appointed former Real Betis boss Quique Setien.

“I did not agree to this offer, especially as it is too early for me to coach Barcelona,” said Xavi, 39.

“But it will still be my dream to coach the team in the future.”

Xavi, who made more than 750 appearances for Barcelona between 1998 and 2015, added that he “loves” Setien.

“I love the way he works and I expect him to succeed with the team,” he said.

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Spanish media had earlier reported that Barcelona had asked former captain Xavi to take over from the under-pressure Ernesto Valverde.

“I will not deny that. There are negotiations about Xavi and everyone is talking about them… but I can say that Xavi so far is at Al-Sadd,” Muhammad Ghulam Al-Balushi, Al-Sadd’s sports director, told the Qatar-based BeIN broadcaster.

“The final decision is in the hands of Al-Sadd’s management, in the hands of the manager, and the hands of Barcelona’s management,” he added ahead of Al-Sadd’s 4-1 semi-final victory against Al-Rayyan in the Qatar Cup.

Xavi declined to confirm the speculation at the post-match media briefing but said he had met Barcelona’s director of football Eric Abdidal during his recent trip to Qatar.

“I’m focussing on Al-Sadd. Yes Abidal is my friend, I met him many times,” he said.

“They were here to talk to me and we discussed many things. And they were here to check how is Ousmane Dembele.

“I cannot inform you too much, just that I met Abidal and he is my friend.”

But he added: “I cannot hide that it’s my dream to coach Barcelona, I said it many times.”

French international and Barcelona forward Dembele has been in Qatar for treatment on a hamstring injury.

World Cup winner Xavi, 39, came through the Barcelona academy and played 855 senior games for the Camp Nou side.

He joined Al-Sadd as a player in 2015 before being appointed coach last July.

Valverde’s position is reportedly under threat after the Spanish Super Cup semi-final defeat by Atletico Madrid on Thursday.

“I respect Barcelona, I respect Valverde, and I respect my club and I’m doing my job here,” Xavi added.

“When I started as a coach, I felt ready to coach Al-Sadd, to coach Barcelona, to coach other teams – but I don’t know the timing, I have a contract here, one more season. Let’s see what happens.”

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The veteran midfielder had in June indicated his preference to leave Camp Nou after failing to receive assurances from new boss Luis Enrique on how much playing time he would receive.

But after mulling over offers from Qatari club Al-Arabi and new MLS franchise New York City, he has decided to extend his spell in Catalunya.

The news will be welcomed by club chiefs, who are keen for the 34-year-old to remain and share his extensive experience with the club’s younger players.

The situation could have been different, however, had Xavi received more attractive offers. But, having initially been intrigued by the financial rewards available in the Middle East, he cooled on the idea of moving to Qatar and instructed his agent to explore other proposals.

New York stepped forward – indeed they still have a deal on the table – but failed to convince the player it was the right move at this stage of his career.

It means Xavi is set to be a member of the Barcelona squad which attempts to reclaim the title from Atletico Madrid in 2014-15.

He will join new signing Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta as central midfield options with youngster Sergi Roberto also expected to play a more prominent role next season following the departure of Cesc Fabregas – widely touted as Xavi’s replacement when he joined from Arsenal in 2011 – to Chelsea.

Xavi has appeared in over 700 competitive matches for Barcelona and won 22 trophies with the Catalan club.

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