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Xavi Hernandez has been playing with Barcelona for over 14 seasons and for the longest of years, he has been the dictator of the midfield for his club. Even at his 34 years of age, he is still considered to be one of the best players who plays as a central-midfielder.

A dead ball specialist at the same caliber as Italy’s Andrea Pirlo, Xavi still has a few more years left in him before hanging up his boots. David Beckham wants Xavi Hernandez to be his 1^st signing for his MLS franchise.

The Spanish midfielder has a contract with Barcelona which expires in 2016 and the Miami franchise of Beckham is expected to be in the league in 2017 so if everything goes according to plans, Xavi would have no problem in leaving Barcelona when his contract ends and play for the last few years of his career in the MLS.

Xavi has been a consistent performer for Barcelona since 1999 and his world class passing is something that Beckham wants to bring to his Miami based franchise. If Xavi does decide to make a move to the MLS, it would not be a very surprising thing as a lot of veteran players are opting on switching to play the last few years of their career on a place where the pressure is not as big as their former clubs.

Some months ago Xavi was also being linked with New York City FC and the New York Red Bulls and while he still has not said anything regarding his future outside of Barcelona, it is highly likely that he might join a club outside of La Liga when his contract does reach its end.

Xavi was absent during Barcelona’s latest La Liga match as they overcame Getafe with a comfortable 5-2 final scoreboard. According to the medical staff of the team Xavi picked up an injury on his right leg and the head coach Tata Martino decided to give him a day off and rest him for their match against Getafe.

Leg injuries are nothing new for the Spanish midfielder as he already had suffered from a hamstring injury on his left leg back in November and had to miss 1 week of action for Barcelona, which was nothing too serious and now it is believed that he will be back in action by their next match against Elche and he was only rested for Getafe’s match as a precaution.

It’s no secret that for Barcelona, Xavi Hernandez is probably one of the more influential players on the pitch considering their playing style that relies on quick and short passes being spread around between all the players on the field and it has been long considered that Xavi has unrivaled passing efficiency even compared to Italy’s Andrea Pirlo.

Despite having some of their star players out injured, Barcelona have managed to cope with the absence of Valdes, Messi and Xavi accordingly as they continue on winning their respective matches and claiming points that maintain them at the top of the Spanish League with 46 points and having only suffered 1 loss so far in the season.

When the Spanish midfielder was asked about the Ballon d’Or he went on talking about the hard work that Franck Ribery and Cristiano Ronaldo have done to claim the award but had special praise to his teammate Lionel Messi as he considers the Argentine not only the best player in the world but the best player in history according to him.

“Cristiano Ronaldo and Ribéry have both done a lot to deserve the Ballon d’Or, but for me the best player in the world, and already the best ever, is Messi, without a shadow of doubt”. He was not eligible to vote for the award, but was convinced who he’d have voted for if he could.

Xavi has said that he hopes his team Barcelona recovers well from the defeat against the Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam.

In their previous Champions League game against Ajax, Barcelona suffered a 1-2 defeat. That was an away game for them, but, the kind of form they had been in, one had expected them to secure 3 points, but, a determined Ajax team stunned them.

The victory of Ajax was even more remarkable because of the fact that they played with only 10 guys for a large part of the game as one of their main players Joel Veltman had been shown red card in the 48^th minute.

Talking to the reporters on Thursday about that game against Ajax, Xavi said, “It was the first game that we lost this season and I am hoping that it doesn’t have adverse effects on us.”

“We still have to play a match against Celtic and we will be playing that match on our home ground. So, I reckon we are still the favourites to finish first in our group.”

When asked if getting trailed by a couple of goals put his team under huge amount of pressure, Xavi said, “Yes, it did. It’s never easy to bounce back after getting down by two goals. I think there was lack of intensity in our game that day. Yes, we did raise our game a bit in the latter half, but, they had already done enough damage before that.”

Despite that defeat against Ajax, Barcelona didn’t move down in the Group H points table. They are still at the first position with 10 points in 5 games.

Barcelona’s next game is a La Liga encounter against Athletic Bilbao. That game will be played at San Mames on Sunday.

Many are of the opinion that Barcelona midfielder Xavi is coming to the end of his glittering career. The 34-year-old does not appear to have many years left in him, but Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla does not think so. According to him, Xavi is one of the best footballers on the planet. He is also extremely good at taking care of himself, which is the reason why he has been performing at the top level even at 34. He has praised the energy levels of Xavi by saying that he would be more than delighted have the same freshness at that age.

Xavi is a name synonymous with the passing style of football that has become so crucial to Barcelona. For all the praise that the likes of Messi and Iniesta get for scoring goals, it is the work done by Xavi that is crucial to their success. Cazorla has recognised this and has said that he would be happy to reach the level of Xavi by the time he retires. The former Malaga midfielder has been an instant hit at Arsenal since his £ 12 million move to the Premier league. Even though he will get competition from the likes of Mesut Ozil and the much improving Aaron Ramsey, Cazorla is expected to play a key role in Arsenal’s season nonetheless.

“I would love to reach his age and be as fresh as he is. He is one of the best players around, he’s a specialist in his position and no-one comes close to him. I can’t stand it when people say things like that,” said Arsenal midfielder, who has played with the 34-year-old at international level. During his stellar career Xavi has made an incredible 688 appearances for Barcelona. He has found the back of the net on 82 occasions being primarily known for his passing ability.

Xavi Hernandez, simply known as Xavi, is a Spanish professional football player who plays for FC Barcelona in the Spanish league and is also a regular in the Spanish national team, having led his country to three major titles including two European Championships in 2008 and 2012 as well as the FIFA World Cup in 2010. Having spent his entire career at Barcelona, the midfielder is considered as one of the greatest midfielders of his generation and is seen already as a legend at his club.

Born in the Catalan region of Spain, the playmaker joined the famed La Masia youth academy of Barcelona when he was just 11 years old progressed through the ranks before being handed his first team debut for the club. He spent three years cutting his teeth with the second team of the club in the lower divisions before he nailed down a first team spot for himself, replacing the legendary Luis Figo who had departed the club for arch rivals Real Madrid.

Born and brought up as a Catalan, the sentiment of playing for Barcelona is something that Xavi has talked about many times and although he has had several offers to play for various other clubs in the world, including AC Milan and Manchester United, he never abandoned his beloved Barcelona, sticking with the club through their lean periods before ushering in the greatest era in the club’s history that saw them win three UEFA Champions League titles in six years.

Xavi is also one of the most decorated footballers of his generation and is one of the greatest midfielders to have donned the red jersey of Spain and is seen by many as the country’s answer to several former legends in the Brazilian and Argentine playmaking role where he has created his own brand.

The 32-year-old Barcelona midfielder Xavi has said that he believes that the current season could be another historic season for the club. Barcelona have enjoyed tremendous success in the last four years, but their best year came in the inaugural season of the former manager Guardiola. They managed to win six trophies in the first season of Guardiola back in 2009. They managed to win the la Liga title and the Champions league title amongst a host of other trophies in that single year. Xavi does not see a reason why the achievement cannot be matched again this season.

Barcelona have been brilliant under the new management of Tito Vilanova. The only recently managed to lose their first match in the league. As a result, they sit proudly 15 points ahead of their arch rivals Real Madrid and are the clear favourites to lift the la Liga title this season. They have been drawn against the Italian club AC Milan in the last 16 stage of the Champions League. Given the recent troubles for the Italian club, Barcelona are the clear favourites to progress to the next round. Yet, Xavi has said that Barcelona should not be overconfident when it comes to facing Milan because they are a tough team at the San Siro.

“The team is very competitive and we want to do well in every competition. We’d like to win the lot but we have to watch our step. The talent is there for sure [to have another historic year], but we need luck to be on our side too. They’re a tough side. They keep it tight at the back and they’ve always made life very hard for us defensively. San Siro is not an easy place to go to either because the fans are very passionate,” said Xavi.