When Xavi was brought in to manage Barcelona, the club was in freefall after the rocky tenure of Ronald Koeman, the last coach of the Josep Bartomeu era.
There was financial precarity off the field, and a fatalistic culture on it. This is the environment that Xavi walked into.
And yet, under the leadership of president Joan Laporta, and director of football Mateu Alemany, there was an intent to support the Barca legend, to turn around the club quickly, and get it back to its winning ways.
In January of 2022, Ferran Torres became Xavi’s first target with a price tag of 55 million euros.