Who is Xavi Hernandez ?

Is he the savior FC Barcelona needed in these tough times?

Xavi is not a new face in Camp Nou. He was a key player along with Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta, and the other members of the team who were the golden generation of the club. But since 2018 the club has been slowly losing its shine, its golden generation. Xavi seeing this came back to the club to restore its glory. But he came back as an experienced manager from Qatar Stars League club Al Sadd where he won seven trophies with the club.

Xavier Hernández Creus as we know him as Xavi was born in Terrassa, Barcelona to a first division footballer. He was an energetic and athletic lad from the start. Belonging to a proud Catalan family he eventually joined the FC Barcelona youth system ‘La Masia’ along with Puyol, Iniesta, Busquets, Pique, and none other than Messi. By 1998 he rose through the ranks and became a regular player in the senior squad.

Now he has returned as a manager and is in the process to restore Barca back among the elites of football. Back in 2001 after bursting into the first team, the responsibilities were the same as they are now. Barca were at a very low, lost a lot of their good players, and were in a financial mess. He stepped up to the challenge performing well which can be seen not only by his stats but the promotion to vice-captain of FC Barcelona. He was just 24 years old then.

In the season of 2008, everything was about to change not only for FC Barcelona but for Xavi as a player. Pep Guardiola was appointed as the manager and he bought the Tiki-Taka style into the team. As the core team was from La Masia academy they quickly adapted the style to perfection. Xavi and Iniesta were the lungs of the team. Under Pep, they ruled European football and were crowned with trophies on both domestic and European levels. It was this team that won the sextuple or all 6 trophies a club could win in a year.

Aged like fine wine, Xavi decided it was time to move on but before becoming the captain and winning the treble or 3 trophies in a season. Eventually moving on to Al Sadd as a player and then to become a manager for the same team.

Xavi has won the World Cup with Spain, Domestic and European trophies with FC Barcelona, the FIFA world cup player of the tournament, and many more individual awards. As a manager, his potential can be seen in the results he had with Sadd and FC Barcelona. He is nothing but a future star manager on the rise.