Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has commented on reports linking former FC Barcelona boss Xavi with a move to Manchester United.
Barcelona legend Xavi has been out of work since leaving the Spanish giants at the end of the 2023/24 campaign but has been heavily linked with a potential return to management in recent months.
Xavi was mentioned as a potential candidate for Man Utd before the Premier League strugglers appointed Ruben Amorim and there has been renewed talk over a move to Old Trafford recently.
This comes amid United’s woes under Amorim as they sit 14th in our Premier League form table.
Amorim is among the favourites to be the next Premier League manager sacked and a report on Monday claimed Xavi is ‘preparing to return’ and Man Utd have made ‘calls to seduce’ the 45-year-old.
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The report claimed:
‘One of the options that sounded the strongest was that of Manchester United, who even sounded out Xavi while he was coach of FC Barcelona. During this time inactive, Manchester also contacted the coach to take charge of the team instead of Ruben Amorim. Xavi declined.
‘The Egarense was betting on the continuity of Van Nistelrooy or another provisional coach until he took the reins of United, but for the 2025-2026 season. Finally, the parameters were not given and the ‘red devils’ ended up signing the Portuguese.
‘From here, Xavi Hernandez is preparing to return to the bench for the next campaign . Without obsession or haste. The idea is to be able to take on a competitive project in the long term and that allows the man from Terrassa to return to the elite to fight with the best. And this new team is not ruled out as Manchester United.’
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Romano confirms Xavi is “ready” to return to management, but Man Utd’s “top target” was always Amorim.
“It’s true that Xavi would love to return to work in the summer, so from the new season, so keep an eye on Xavi Hernandez because Xavi could be one of the names to watch in the manager’s market,” Romano said.
“In the summer after he left Barcelona, he decided to take some time [off]. Despite the rumours we had of Man Utd, he was never really close to the Man Utd job. The top target for Man United was Ruben Amorim. They never made any official contact with Xavi.
“Also Juventus, we had rumours, [but] Juventus and Xavi never made any sort of contact. But Xavi can be an interesting candidate for other jobs in the summer transfer window because he’s ready, he’s now fully recharged after difficult, tough years at Barcelona.”
