(Football news) FC Barcelona have announced the signing of Xavi for the post of first team manager. The Spanish player turned manager had to leave Qatari club Al Sadd to take charge of his boyhood club.

As a player Xavi was an unbelievable servant for FC Barcelona. The midfielder made over 500 appearances for the club winning 25 trophies in the process. Xavi was an integral part of the prime Barcelona side along with Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi. Now returning as a manager, Xavi comes in with incredibly high expectations after leading Al Sadd to the League title last year. 

Realistically there will be no expectations of a title of any sorts as this Barcelona side might not be at a level where they can win a piece of silverware. The Catalan side are currently 9th on the La Liga table and have already lost 5 games in all competitions this season. As a manager Xavi's philosophy consists of playing attractive attacking football. Whether he gets to do that at Barcelona with the players at his disposal remains to be seen. 

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Barcelona have very limited players who are in their prime. Xavi's main job would be to phase out seniors such as Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba. For youngsters like Pedri, Gavi, Riqui Puig, Sergino Dest and Ronald Araujo it will be a great opportunity to learn from Xavi in the flesh. The new Barcelona will surely be built around Memphis Depay who has been one of the few positives this season.

Xavi's first game in charge will be at home against Espanyol. Before that Barcelona will play away at Celta Vigo under Sergi Barjuan. The new boss' first big test will be at the Allianz Arena against Bayern Munich. In the last 2 games Barcelona have lost 8-2 and 3-0 against Bayern Munich. Xavi will truly announce his arrival at the managerial stage if he wins at Bavaria.