On Thursday it was reported Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez was planning to sign with Qatari club Al Sadd, which ended the speculation of him coming to Major League Soccer. There may have been some writing on the wall as to why he made that decision.
Xavi will reportedly sign a three-year deal with Al Sadd that will pay him €10 million per season and he will study for his coaching licenses over the life of the contract at the Aspire Academy. He will earn another €10 million if he completes a fourth season with the club. Earlier this month the Daily Mail reported Xavi was set to join former teammate David Villa as well as English midfielder Frank Lampard in New York, but that's no longer the case.
So what happened?
ESPNFC.com said Xavi was considering other offers, including some from MLS teams, but it's unknown if NYCFC actually submitted one of their own. NYCFC head coach Jason Kreis is a big fan of Xavi, but he perhaps had some comments that either changed the organization's outside endeavors or dissuaded the famed Barcelona midfielder altogether.
"When you think about a player like Xavi Hernandez, for me one of the best players in the world ever, a big, big fan of his, you say to yourself on one side there's no doubt a player like that would be great at New York City," Kreis said at a press conference on Wednesday, via MLSSoccer.com.
"But when you look at it from another point of view and you say you only get three [Designated Players] and we've already got another one that plays in the midfield and you've got a third one in David Villa whose all relative age are getting up there, you start to think maybe not."
"I would say I'm really split, on the fence. I'm a huge fan of Xavi Hernandez, I think he would be a huge player in this league, no doubt about it, huge for New York City, huge for our club, but positionally I don't know it makes the best sense and the most sense, but I'm open for anything."
As the MLS works to add reputable talent and make themselves one of the more competitive soccer organizations in the world, they missed out on an experienced international player in Xavi on Thursday. It's unknown what influenced the Spaniard, but many would like to think the €10 million per season played a big factor, considering the highest-paid MLS player is Orlando City SC striker Kaka at $7.2 million (as of 2014).
In other news, the MLS added Minnesota United as the league's 24th team on Wednesday and the club is slated to debut in 2018.
