There are rumors that Lionel Messi has taken a sneak peek at Manchester United with the goal of joining. At the same time, Xavi is said to have begun talks about taking over as manager of United from Erik ten Hag.
At the end of last season, Xavi was fired as boss of Barcelona. He hasn’t had a job since.
Having talks with people about becoming the head coach of the Qatar national football team. He used to play football there before he left the Gulf state.
The Daily Mail said on Tuesday that United had begun talking with Xavi’s agents about adding him to the team at Old Trafford as a replacement for Ten Hag. Talks like these took place through club reps.
It’s hard on Ten Hag because United is having the worst start to a Premier League season since 1989. Their 2-1 win over Brentford, on the other hand, helped ease some of that pressure.
Xavi’s first language is English, and he has said many times that he loves English football. However, he has never played for or managed an English club.
He worked with Omar Berrada, the CEO of United, when they were both at Barcelona. From 2004 to 2011, Berrada was in charge of marketing at Barcelona. After that, he moved on to Manchester City.
Xavi and this other player were both at Camp Nou at the time and played together for most of their careers on several very successful Barcelona teams.
Messi is still going strong at 37 years old and plays for Inter Miami. However, the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner will not be able to play in England for at least another year.
Messi probably won’t move to United, but the fact that Xavi was hired could make him change his mind before the end of his playing career.
The famous Barcelona player is said to have made it clear that he wants to move to Old Trafford.
He was linked with a move to United in 2007, when Sir Alex Ferguson was manager. It had been two years since he played so well as Barcelona beat United 3-1 in the Champions League final.
He said he had no plans to move when asked about the links. There was a report in 2020 from The Athletic that he was “more charmed” by “historic English clubs such as Manchester United” while his contract dispute at Camp Nou went on.
Messi chose to join PSG over United, so United never got to sign him. It doesn’t look like he will ever play football in England again.
