FC Barcelona Head Coach Xavi Hernandez Picks Greatest Ever Midfielder

FC Barcelona head coach Xavi Hernandez has chosen which player is the greatest midfielder he’s ever seen.

Xavi was speaking ahead of his team’s Sunday meeting with Espanyol at a pre-match press conference on Saturday afternoon.

With his side capable of sealing the La Liga trophy through a win, Xavi was naturally asked what that potential development would mean for his outgoing captain Sergio Busquets who has already announced that he will leave at the end of the season.

“This title is important for him,” Xavi said. “He has made a good decision, although it harms us. He leaves valued, at a very good time, being a starter, with the [Spanish] Super Cup [win], about to [seal] LaLiga… I wish him well.

“He’s perhaps the smartest player I’ve ever played with. It’s been a blast to have him as captain. He has been a 10 in everything: conduct, respect, dedication, solidarity … And at a football level he has been spectacular. He is a model [player], the best midfielder in the history of Barca. Definitely,” Xavi added.

Later probed on Busquets’ standing in football history among center-of-the-park greats, Xavi said that the number ‘5’ “deserves to be at the table of the best”.

“For me he is the best midfielder my eyes have seen. The smartest I’ve ever seen in my career. I thought it was an injustice when he wasn’t nominated for the Ballon d’Or,” Xavi stated.

When asked if this was “the end of an era”, Xavi insisted it is instead the beginning of a new one with young stars such as Pedri and Gavi ready to carry the torch.

Xavi noted that the legendary trio he formed with Busquets and Andreas Iniesta was “wonderful” but pointed out that he and his staff now “work to start another one”.

“Hopefully Gavi, Pedri… surpass us. Hopefully. There is a very good batch of footballers. We are starting a new era.”

As Gavi and Pedri operate in more advanced positions, however, Barca are still in need of a pivot when Busquets departs. Rather than searching out on the market, though, Xavi revealed that he will “always prioritize looking at what’s at home” in the La Masia academy.

“What comes from outside must be better than what is at home: in Barça B, the Juvenil [U16-18 category]… The priority is the house. But if we think there is no level, we have to look for it outside,” he conceded.