New Barcelona manager Luis Enrique took over a club where legends were leaving.
Club captain Carles Puyol retired and moved upstairs, goalkeeper Victor Valdes had gone, and Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez were also departing.
Xavi, 34, was thinking about his future. The midfield metronome and Enrique, teammates under Bobby Robson and Louis van Gaal, met to talk about Xavi’s future.
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Lu Martin, a journalist close to Xavi, reported that Enrique said: “You are welcome to be part of this. I see your importance, but if you stay then don’t complain to me if you’re not playing as much as you’d like to.”
Unusually for one of the best talkers in football, Xavi opted not to speak publicly in the close season as his future was decided.
Since his 1998 debut, he has played more games for Barca than any player, and he has a contract until 2016.
That raised eyebrows when it was signed, for Xavi will be 36 in two years, but, as he once said: “I’ll play until the legs tell me to stop, but my game does not depend on speed like others.”
That is how he perceives it, and few question his speed of thought.
“We all live in the present, but Xavi actually lives in the future,” Brazilian full-back Dani Alves once said when asked about Xavi.
“That’s how he sees things the way he does. I’ve always believed that football is for the little smart guys like me and Pedro, Xavi and Iniesta.”
Those little guys were good enough to become the best in the world, but Barca’s star has waned since Pep Guardiola departed in 2012.
Xavi has remained a mainstay and achieved his ambition to surpass 1970s and ’80s star Migueli and become Barca’s all-time appearance holder.
Xavi’s problem is that father time is slowly catching up with Spain’s greatest footballer. He is playing fewer games, which is natural given he is 34, the age at which Luis Enrique called it a career.
Last season, Xavi was seen as a microcosm of what ailed an under-the-weather Barca: still great, but with waning physical powers.
He is regarded as a future Barcelona manager, but he will likely stop playing at Camp Nou at the end of this season.
Xavi is not the only player facing a key season. It is a huge one for Lionel Messi, whose form dropped in 2014, plus his strike partners Neymar, who needs an excellent second season to justify his vast transfer fee, and Luis Suarez, who has a reputation to rebuild.
At Real Madrid, Xabi Alonso, 32, will face competition from new arrival Toni Kroos. They played together in Tuesday’s Spanish Super Cup first leg against Atletico Madrid – a 1-1 draw – and performed well.
Madrid have two players for every position, but one Madrid player faces an uncertain future over any other: Iker Casillas.
The goalkeeper will get chances initially, but if he performs as poorly as he did for Spain in the World Cup, then he will be replaced by new signing Keylor Navas.
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