Former Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez has offered his services to the All India Football Federation (AIFF) for the position of coach of the Indian national team, according to The Times of India.
Xavi had previously announced his openness to the idea of returning to coaching after spending last season on sabbatical, stressing that he aspired to work in the top five leagues in particular.
However, The Times of India revealed a major surprise: the Catalan coach wanted to work with the Indian national team. A member of the AIFF found an email from Xavi requesting the vacant position.
In fact, neither the member nor the AIFF was able to verify Xavi’s request, especially since his message did not include any additional information such as his phone number or details of the contract he was seeking, raising suspicions that the message may not have come from the coach himself.
Ultimately, the Indian Football Association excluded Xavi from its list of candidates to lead the national team. The main reason was that officials realized that convincing the former Barcelona coach would require an exorbitant salary they could not afford. The list was narrowed down to three candidates: Stephen Constantine, Stefan Tarkovic, and Khalid Jamil.
Xavi has previously stated that he regularly follows Indian football due to the presence of several Spanish coaches there, which could explain why he might be interested in this move.
