It's fair to say that it's been a whirlwind few weeks for Barcelona, both on and off the pitch.

The Catalan giants are involved in a see-saw tussle for control of La Liga with their great rivals Real Madrid, with Barca now two points clear thanks to a Lionel Messi masterclass against Eibar coupled with Madrid slipping up at Levante.

With Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele suffering long-term injuries, La Liga sanctioned Barcelona an emergency signing, and eyebrows were raised when they signed former Middlesbrough striker Martin Braithwaite. He did, however, get off to a solid start yesterday though, claiming two assists in the 5-0 thrashing of Eibar.

Barca also go into their last-16 Champions League clash against Napoli this week as strong favourites, so at first-glance, this season looks like it's shaping up well for them.

But they have only just emerged from a bit of a managerial farce in which they sacked boss Ernesto Valverde despite sitting top of the league at the time, and had to settle for Quique Setién, far from their first choice.

There was also unrest in the camp, with Director and former player Eric Abidal criticising the effort of the players during Valverde's last few weeks in charge, with Messi reacting angrily to the accusations over social media.

During that period, former midfielder Xavi was widely tipped to take over the reigns, with Abidal approaching him in Doha last month during the Spanish Super Cup that was being held in Saudi Arabia.

Xavi, who is currently in charge of Al Sadd in Qatar, was reportedly offered a two-and-a-half-year deal by Abidal and CEO, Óscar Grau.

But negotiations ultimately broke down, and the eight demands that were made by Xavi have now come to light, via Forbes.

Maximum control of the sports department

The incorporation of sextuple captain Carles Puyol

The incorporation of Joan Vila, whom he considers his ‘sporting father’

The incorporation of Jordi Cruyff, son of club icon Johan

The incorporation of brother Oscar, to become part of the coaching staff

Global control of the youth categories and their academies

A remodeling of the club’s medical services plus a replacement of its current head

In addition to these demands, Xavi was adamant that he would only take over in June, as he wanted to see out the rest of the season with Al Sadd.

And it was that request that seemed to be the biggest stumbling block for the Barca hierarchy, who then turned their attention elsewhere.

But with Setién hardly being the most popular choice with those in power at the club, the return of their former legend may still not be too far away.

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