The Statistic That Shows Xavi Doesn’t Need Lionel Messi At FC Barcelona

An interesting statistic related to Xavi Hernandez’s time as FC Barcelona manager thus far has suggested that he does not need its greatest ever player and former teammate Lionel Messi to return to the club.

Messi left his boyhood outfit for Paris Saint Germain in the summer of 2021, after Barca failed to meet the demands set by La Liga’s strict salary cap.

He penned a two-year arrangement at the Parc des Princes and as that expires on June 30, Messi’s future is of great interest to the footballing world.

A report yesterday claimed that Messi is fed up with the instability in the PSG locker room and is considering moving on.

If that’s the case, he could entertain reported offers on the table for him in the US, his homeland Argentina, and Saudi Arabia where Al-Hilal allegedly plan to pay him a whopping $350mn a year.

Should this information be accurate and Messi accepts, he would be set to top Forbes’ list of the World’s Highest-Paid Soccer Players.

Barca have the same salary cap issues in 2023, with La Liga president Javier Tebas going on the record and stating that the Catalans must lose €200mn ($215mn) from their payroll ahead of 2023/2024.

This makes a return to Camp Nou for Messi as complicated as his brother Matias’ attack on president Joan Laporta apparently does. Yet following Barca’s 1-0 win over Villarreal at the weekend that put them 11 points clear of Real Madrid at the La Liga summit, a statistic has emerged suggesting that head coach Xavi Hernandez might not need him after all.

As shown above, Xavi has now led Barca for 47 La Liga matches and has obtained 112 points from them.

Only Luis Enrique tops him with three more on 115. But Xavi has the better of Ernesto Valverde on 111 and his former manager Pep Guardiola on 110.

The only difference is that all three of those legendary coaches had Messi at their disposal whereas Xavi did not.

Furthermore, Xavi inherited a squad that didn’t boast all its current talents when taking over the reins from Ronald Koeman in November 2021, with the 2021/2022 season already well underway.

Across 26 games, Xavi pushed Barca on to Champions League qualification and should finish this campaign with the club’s first La Liga title in four years if his talented team maintain their current form.