Latest news with #XaviHernandez
Forbes
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Ex-FC Barcelona Director Admits Club ‘Mistreated Dembele'
A former FC Barcelona director admitted in an interview with SPORT that the club mistreated Champions League finalist Ousmane Dembele. Dembele was bought by Barca from Borussia Dortmund in 2017, with then-president Josep Bartomeu using €105 million of the plus a reported €222 million received from PSG for Neymar and also agreeing to pay a further plus a reported €40 million in add-ons. For a good five years or so, Barca was unable to get the best of the undoubtedly talented, ambidextrous forward. That was until club legend Xavi Hernandez took over the reins and took the World Cup winner to one side. With special treatment, the midfield icon turned Dembele into one of the best widemen in the world, but he had his head turned by his agent and PSG, who utilized a clause in his Barca contract and paid a relatively paltry €50.4 million for his services in 2023. PSG Luis Enrique has continued Xavi's fine work with the 28-year-old and turned him into a more centrally-playing Ballon d'Or candidate. On the brink of them taking on Barca's semifinal foes Inter Milan in the decider in Munich this weekend, former Blaugrana player and director Robert Fernandez shed light on why the Catalans weren't able to get the best out of the Frenchman. Pointing out that France Football could give the Ballon d'Or to Dembele and not Lamine Yamal if the former goes all the way at the Allianz Arena, Fernandez said that 'with Ousmane we didn't have the patience we needed'. 'But no one. Neither you, the press, nor us. Honestly, I think we mistreated this player a lot. Unfortunately, I have to put it this way. He didn't understand many things. He came very young and you can see that we loved him even two years before. He had extraordinary conditions,' Fernandez stated. 'There was no patience and above all he had two injuries. And it's a contradiction, because they told me personally that he wasn't very professional and that wasn't true,' Fernandez continued. 'He was a magnificent professional. He didn't drink and they said he drank. They said that he was leading a bad life and it was a lie. It hurt him a lot, I think it unbalanced him. He's a guy with a lot of personality, because after what happened, he was able to succeed at Barca. His finish was good, with Xavi's support.' With the youngster taking his right wing berth, however, we mustn't ignore the fact that Lamine Yamal's rise to the elite in FC Barcelona's colors might not have been so quick had Dembele not departed when he did.
Reuters
3 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Flick convinced Raphinha to stay at Barcelona
May 30 (Reuters) - Barcelona winger Raphinha said he had considered leaving the club but decided to stay after a call with coach Hansi Flick, who gave him a fresh opportunity to prove himself. Raphinha initially struggled under previous coach Xavi Hernandez, saying the Spaniard and his staff did not show much trust in his abilities. He became a regular starter under Flick, compared to just 17 starts in LaLiga during the 2023–24 season. The 28-year-old Brazilian was instrumental in Barcelona's LaLiga title run, contributing 34 goals and 25 assists. However, Raphinha said he had not even thought about reaching those numbers before the campaign began. "Honestly, I didn't expect it. The personal goals I had were below these numbers... It has been the best season of my life," Raphinha told Spanish daily SPORT in a interview published on Friday. Raphinha conceded that neither he nor those around him saw him continuing at Barcelona before Flick arrived and persuaded him to stay. "I didn't think it was just me, a lot of people wanted me to leave here. Many fans, maybe the board was not happy with what I was doing, many people. I am a person who thinks that if you are not welcome in a place, it is better not to be in it," he said. "There is no point in banging your head against the wall. I know the way I dedicate myself to my profession and I knew that when the coach changed I had a new opportunity to show my potential and my way of working. "The coach had called me and told me that he was counting on me. That call was very important because it changed my way of thinking. The only person who could stop me was him and he did." Last week, Raphinha signed a contract renewal that will keep him at the club until 30 June 2028. He is set to play in Brazil's World Cup qualifiers, facing Ecuador away on June 5 and Paraguay at home on June 10.
CNA
3 days ago
- Business
- CNA
Flick convinced Raphinha to stay at Barcelona
Barcelona winger Raphinha said he had considered leaving the club but decided to stay after a call with coach Hansi Flick, who gave him a fresh opportunity to prove himself. Raphinha initially struggled under previous coach Xavi Hernandez, saying the Spaniard and his staff did not show much trust in his abilities. He became a regular starter under Flick, compared to just 17 starts in LaLiga during the 2023–24 season. The 28-year-old Brazilian was instrumental in Barcelona's LaLiga title run, contributing 34 goals and 25 assists. However, Raphinha said he had not even thought about reaching those numbers before the campaign began. "Honestly, I didn't expect it. The personal goals I had were below these numbers... It has been the best season of my life," Raphinha told Spanish daily SPORT in a interview published on Friday. Raphinha conceded that neither he nor those around him saw him continuing at Barcelona before Flick arrived and persuaded him to stay. "I didn't think it was just me, a lot of people wanted me to leave here. Many fans, maybe the board was not happy with what I was doing, many people. I am a person who thinks that if you are not welcome in a place, it is better not to be in it," he said. "There is no point in banging your head against the wall. I know the way I dedicate myself to my profession and I knew that when the coach changed I had a new opportunity to show my potential and my way of working. "The coach had called me and told me that he was counting on me. That call was very important because it changed my way of thinking. The only person who could stop me was him and he did." Last week, Raphinha signed a contract renewal that will keep him at the club until 30 June 2028. He is set to play in Brazil's World Cup qualifiers, facing Ecuador away on June 5 and Paraguay at home on June 10.
Forbes
5 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
FC Barcelona Legend Xavi Said Winning Competition Was ‘Touching Sky'
FC Barcelona legend Xavi Hernandez told FIFA that winning its Club World Cup tournament as a player was like "touching the sky". The legendary number six did so twice, in 2009 and 2011, on the orders of Pep Guardiola and remembers the experience fondly. "It gives you the feeling that you touch the sky when you are club world champion," the former midfielder beamed. 'You see different styles of play, you've played against teams from Oceania, South America and North America and, well, it's nice.' 'I think it's going to be a before and after this competition,' Xavi predicted, which was a nod to how the tournament has been restructured. While the Club World Cup was previously a winter affair where a few clubs from the mentioned continents battled it out in a short tournament consisting of late knockout rounds in the Middle East, it will now take place across the Atlantic on US soil with 32 teams looking to make it through the group stage and then the final with lucrative prize money on offer. The club of Xavi's life Barca missed out on qualification while he still manned the Montjuic dugout, and will rest up on the orders of his successor Hansi Flick over the summer while bitter rival Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid represent Spain. While Los Blancos have been drawn into a group containing Al-Hilal, Pachuca and RB Salzburg, Atleti must finish in the top two among Paris Saint-Germain, Botafogo and the Seattle Sounders to keep progressing. Xavi believes that the new Club World Cup will be 'an opportunity for the different clubs in the world to measure themselves at a very high level' and remembered a 2006 shock defeat to Brazil's Internacional a few months after the Blaugrana had beaten Arsenal in Paris to claim their second Champions League crown. 'It's difficult. You don't usually know these teams that much. I remember that it is a different football, different, perhaps more physical, more contact,' Xavi quipped. FC Barcelona's last victory in the Club World Cup came in late 2015 when Xavi had already moved onto Al-Sadd. It beat Argentine giants River Plate 3-0 in the final, thanks to a strike from Lionel Messi and a Luis Suarez brace.
Japan Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Japan Times
Teenage Barca star Lamine Yamal signs new contract to 2031
Barcelona's teenage star Lamine Yamal signed a new contract until 2031 with the Catalan giants on Tuesday after a spectacular season. The 17-year-old winger is already one of the club's key players and helped it land a domestic treble of La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup. "Barcelona and Lamine Yamal have reached a deal to extend his contract to June 30, 2031," said the Catalan club in a statement. "Lamine Yamal's renewal is a demonstration of the solidity of Barca's project. His emergence on to the world football scene is like few others, and it began with his debut on April 29, 2023, still at the age of 15." Spanish media reported the new deal makes him one of Barcelona's best paid players. After triumphing at Euro 2024 with Spain last summer, Yamal scored 18 goals and provided 25 assists in 55 matches across all competitions during a sensational campaign. Operating on the right flank as a prodigious dribbler, Yamal's skill and speed contributed greatly to Barca netting 102 league goals this season and reclaiming the crown from rivals Real Madrid. Yamal, who came through the club's feted La Masia youth academy and is often compared to all-time Barcelona great Lionel Messi, made his debut in 2023 under Xavi Hernandez at just 15. By the end of the 2023-24 campaign he had emerged as the team's main attacking weapon, the bright spot in a poor campaign where Barca finished empty-handed. Following his exploits at the Euros, Yamal fitted Flick's attacking style to perfection and adding more consistency, showed he has become one of the world's best players. Yamal put in two brilliant Champions League semi-final performances against Inter Milan but his team was edged 7-6 on aggregate and must wait to end its European drought. "I will keep my promise and I will bring (the Champions League trophy) to Barcelona, we will not stop until we get it," pledged Yamal after the game. Despite his youth the winger has already played over 100 times for Barcelona. Yamal, who turns 18 in July, follows teammate Raphinha and coach Flick in signing contact extensions in the last few days. Spanish media report his contract includes various bonuses for different achievements, including winning the Ballon d'Or, as well as a significant pay rise. Yamal is a candidate to win the trophy for the world's best player this year.
