Barcelona midfielder and captain Xavi Hernández confirmed on Thursday he will leave the club at the end of the season.
He has agreed to join Qatari side Al Sadd.
Xavi, 35, who signed up with Barca’s academy in 1991 at the age of 11 and has won 23 trophies during 17 seasons in the first team, made the announcement at a news conference.
“It’s a definitive decision, it’s not an easy one, it’s the right moment to go,” Xavi, Barcelona’s appearance record holder, told reporters.
Xavi had played for Barca 746 times, more than any other player in the club’s history. The nearest person to this man from Terrassa, just outside of the city of Barcelona, is Puyol who had 593 times before retiring.
Xavi also holds the record of winning the most La Liga titles.
“I still feel useful here but a change of scene is necessary, my head tells me so but not my heart,” he said, adding that his aim was to return to Barca after completing his coaching qualifications.
Xavi will receive an emotional send-off in Barcelona’s final La Liga game of the campaign at home to Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday, when he will hoist aloft the La Liga trophy after the match.
Last weekend Barca wrapped up the title, Xavi’s eighth, and he can win two more trophies in the King’s Cup final against Athletic Bilbao on May 30 and the Champions League showpiece versus Juventus a week later.
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