With Brazilian sensation Vitor Roque's agent threatening to force a move out of FC Barcelona due to Xavi Hernandez, here are several other stars who have previously fallen out with the Blaugrana boss!
Xavi recently decided to stay on as the head coach of Barca, with his change of heart coming just three months after he announced in January that he will leave the club at the end of this season.
Read: Stars who've proved their doubters wrong in 23/24!
Although he has shown faith in young players such as Lamine Yamal, Gavi, Fermin, and Alejandro Balde during his time in charge, not every player has been pleased with working under him, with several stars reportedly having had qualms with the tactician.
Vitor Roque
One such example is Roque, whose agent, Andre Cury, made bombshell claims against Xavi on the weekend, accusing the manager of depriving his client of game time and not evening speaking to the youngster about why he isn't playing.
"We do not want a loan. If the club decides that he cannot stay, he will be sold. There are many teams interested in Vitor Roque. If the club does not give space to Vitor, we will have to look for a solution. Either he stays or he is transferred," Cury told RAC1.
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"No one understands why Xavi doesn't play him and doesn't even speak to Vitor, it's not right. We will discuss his future with Barca soon. We chose Barca because Vitor loves the club, imagine that we really had other proposals that gave us twice as much. But if we can't find a solution internally, we will have to look for another place on permanent transfer. Everyone thinks that Vitor Roque has to have more minutes and no one understands why the coach doesn't give them to him."
The 19-year-old striker joined Barca in January this year from Athletico Paranaense in Brazil, in a deal worth €40 million (R793 million), but according to Transfermarkt, he has played just 310 minutes of football under Xavi, leaving him a frustrated figure in the squad.
Sergino Dest
In January 2024, the American fullback, who is out on loan at PSV Eindhoven, made it explicitly clear that he does not plan on returning to Barcelona as long as Xavi is still in charge.
"Xavi is still there. So, for the moment, no, it will be too difficult," Dest told Voetbal International. "Barcelona, PSV and I have something to say about it. It's too early now, but it will be discussed at the end of the season."
It initially seemed like Dest would stay at the Camp Nou at the beginning of the season after returning from a loan spell at AC Milan. However, with the club pushing to sign Joao Cancelo on loan from Manchester City, Dest opted to join PSV on a season-long deal after realising he ranks low in the pecking order under Xavi, whom he has played just 18 games under – a far cry from the 53 matches he had under previous boss Ronald Koeman.
Pablo Torre
The 21-year-old was shipped out on loan to Girona at the beginning of the season on the back of extensive reports that he wasn't in Xavi's good books. In June 2023, Torre posted a photo of himself, Ferran Torres and Eric Garia at a famous nightclub in Ibiza. This opened him up to huge criticism online, with Spanish outlet El Nacional reporting that Xavi became annoyed with the midfielder's party lifestyle.
After that incident, Torre saw his game time further reduced before it was decided that he should go to Girona. Speaking after he completed the move, the Spanish playmaker suggested that Xavi does not speak to him.
"In general, he doesn't talk much with the players either," Torre said, according to Barca Blaugranes.
"It's true that his brother and the staff were very close. I know that both they and the coach and the delegate are aware of what Eric Garcia and I do in Girona."
Abde Ezzalzouli
The Morocco international departed from the Catalan giants at the beginning of the season after it initially looked like he would be staying at the club. After featuring prominently for Barca during pre-season, Ez Abde was benched by Xavi for the first three games of the season, which he would later admit was the reason he forced a move to Real Betis.
The 22-year-old winger told Marca in September 2023: "In Barcelona, they told me that they wanted me to stay. In the first three match days, I saw that he [Xavi] wasn't starting me. I was clear that I wanted to play from the start and I decided to leave."
Read: Transfer Gossip: Five big-name stars leaving their clubs
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