An insight into the efforts of Barcelona head coach Xavi Hernández to identify a ‘mole’ in his ranks has been provided this afternoon.
The info comes courtesy of journalist Javier Miguel, and provides a fascinating look at the lengths to which Barca’s headmaster was willing to go, to ensure that the private information shared in his dressing room remained precisely that – private.
After taking a largely lax attitude to the subject of leaks across the early seasons of his stint on the Blaugrana bench, for Xavi, ‘everything changed at the beginning of last summer’.
Amid increasing paranoia following the appointment of a personal communications advisor for the Spaniard, Xavi took action.
He began by excluding the rest of his coaching staff from team meetings, keen to speak only to his players when ‘opening up’ on important topics.
As much came amid suspicions on the part of Barcelona’s stars that the mole in question was a member of Xavi’s staff.
The situation then ‘exploded’ a little over a month ago, when the entirety of the coaching setup in Catalunya were gathered in a room, and asked to hand over their mobile phones.
From here, each individual’s WhatsApp accounts were checked for incriminating messages.
Left frustrated by the lack of information forthcoming, Xavi, in turn, began to contact journalists directly, in the hope of at least one revealing the identity of his dressing room ‘rat’.
The investigation, however, ultimately came up empty…
Conor Laird | GSFN
