Xavi has responded to a claim from a Spanish journalist that he knows the real reason the manager performed a u-turn and decided to stay at Barcelona beyond this summer.

It emerged on Wednesday evening that Xavi had decided to perform a dramatic U-turn to stay at Barcelona after holding a meeting with the club's directors.

He had announced in January that he was set to leave at the end of the season, but is now due to honour his contract which expires in 2025. 

Fans are likely to be delighted that the club legend is now staying, but it has been claimed that Barcelona's board were ready to let him go, only for financial issues to get in the way of his planned departure.

Spanish reporter Jordi Baste told Catalan radio station RAC1 that Barcelona's directors had agreed to end Xavi's contract this summer, but the 44-year-old wanted to be paid his entire salary for the final year of his deal.

Xavi (right) has made a dramatic U-turn and opted to stay at Barcelona beyond this summer

But Xavi has strongly denied the claim as he hit out at the report. 'Rumours about me staying as I wanted to get the money from my final year of contract are fake... and invented to damage me,' he said during a press conference today.

'The president knows that if I had left a club, I would not have asked Barcelona for one single euro for my final year of contract.' 

Due to the club's financial situation, club president Joan Laporta was left with little option but to keep Xavi for another year as they could not afford to pay his wages and bring a new manager on board.

Barcelona's financial crisis has been well-documented in recent seasons, with LaLiga having to step in on multiple occasions.

They reduced the club's salary cap by more than £320m in September, and then brought it down again to £175m in February.

The club have been working under restrictions for some time following a number of huge transfer deals and financial mismanagement at the Nou Camp.

They have also had to pull several financial levers in recent transfer windows to get 

Xavi has been in charge of Barcelona since November 2021, and won LaLiga in his first full season at the helm last term.

However, Barcelona's title defence started poorly, and following a 5-3 defeat by Villarreal in January, Xavi stated that he would be stepping down this summer.

The shock announcement prompted an upturn in form which saw the team put together a 12-match unbeaten run across all competitions, and multiple Barcelona chiefs revealed that they were keen for Xavi to change his mind and stay.

They have now got their wish, but news of Xavi's U-turn comes off the back of two defeats against PSG and Real Madrid that seemingly ended Barcelona's chances of securing any silverware this season.