Everyone got all hot and bothered about reports that Xavi might be coming to an MLS ground near you as a member of well-healed New York City FC. But, as we eventually discover with most of these reports, some from reputable outlets and some not so much, this one was more or less made up.
So says Xavi himself.
ESPN FC got ahead on the story by reporting that the Red Bulls had inquired about the Spanish and Barca playmaker, one of the double spokes in the fabulous midfield arrangements (along with Andres Iniesta) that has presided so regally for Spain and for the La Liga giants over the last several years.
But Xavi, 33, told Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo that he knows nothing of talks involving either MLS club in New York, the Red Bulls or NYCFC. (NYCFC is Major League Soccer’s 20th club, set to begin kicking in 2015.)
“Nobody has made me any proposition,” he told Mundo Deportivo. “I know nothing else about New York apart from that it is very cold there. Henry has not called me, nor have I spoken with him. I do not have his telephone number.”
Interestingly, in the same interview Xavi did break a little personnel news, revealing that he came ever so close to joining Bayern Munich in 2008. Pep Guardiola talked him into staying with the Blaugrana. Which is ironic, of course, as Guardiola now manages Bayern, while Xavi has remained happily at the Camp Nou.