"I'm very positive; a lot is asked of you at Barca"

After a crazy Friday, Barcelona made the signing of Xavi Hernandez official. A piece of news which Al Sadd revealed hours beforehand, but was still lacking official confirmation from the Catalans. They still had to complete the signing of the contract which will keep him at the club until 2024. 

Almost immediately, Friday night in Doha, Xavi made his way to Barcelona. He will arrive on Saturday and be officially presented on Monday. In Doha airport, the former Barca footballer spoke for the first since being appointed coach and he seemed excited about the challenge ahead. 

"We will work to the max. In the end, we are Barca, we are in the best club in the world and the best club in the world has to win, you cannot draw or lose. Therefore, a lot is asked of you. We'll try to get the players to be happy. We'll be happy to work a lot and be clear we want to try and win, that's clear. I'm very positive and we'll have to work hard so that things go well," Xavi told 'Mundo Deportivo'.

In the same way, Xavi spoke about the tension in recent days and the difficulties he had leaving Al Sadd. "I'm very happy, imagine, it's the biggest challenge of my career, a huge challenge, I'm going home, to Barca and I'm very happy. Everyone has done their bit, especially the club, I'm very grateful to Barca and thank them for their trust. They've come to Doha, we terminated the contract and we've all done our bit. I'm very positive and I arrive with lots of excitement so that everything goes well. I'm really grateful to the club," he said. 

"It's been difficult because the contracts had to be terminated and new contracts had to be made for all the staff. But vice-president Rafa Yuste, the president and Mateu Alemany have all worked hard so that this could be completed," he explained. 

Lastly, before getting on the plane to Barcelona, Xavi mentioned what he expects of his players and what he will do once he takes over. "The first thing I'll do is talk to the footballers. In the end, I've also experienced bad situations. It's not the best moment in the history of the club, but I want to explain to them what my idea is. And work a lot, make a team. I think it's a situation of working as a team and I'm really keen to do things well. But obviously I need to talk to them to see how they are. I'm almost very grateful to Sergi Barjuan for his work because there's a game today and it's very important. Doing work as a team is the most important thing," he told 'Mundo Deportivo'. 

"The team we have now have to get down to work from the off and very well. I know several players. This is an advantage. It was the same at Al Sadd. I know five players very well because we were teamates and I see it as a positive because I know how they train, I know how they are and they are the captains of the team," he concluded.