Xavi recently sat down for an in-depth interview with Indian podcaster Prakhar Gupta. In the eighth part of this exclusive interview, Xavi discussed topics such as almost joining Milan at 18, his relationship with Barcelona, and AI in football tactics.

During your playing career, did you ever receive big-money offers from other major clubs trying to poach you? Were you ever tempted?

Yes, countless times. There were too many temptations. The first time was in 1998, when I almost joined Milan.

Are you referring to Milan or Inter? Milan.

Yes, Milan. Galliani personally flew to Barcelona and had a private meeting with my father. Then, before Guardiola took over in 2008, Bayern also pursued me intensely. There were many suitors; Man United also made contact. Most of these stayed at the negotiation stage, but only in 1998, when I was 18, did I truly come close to leaving Barcelona. We had just won the U20 World Cup with Spain, and Milan directly offered to activate my release clause. If I had said yes, I would have immediately packed up and flown to Milan. But at the last moment, I told myself: "No, my heart isn't there. I'd rather stay at Barcelona and fight, and prove myself again and again." Looking back, I have no regrets. My career has been perfect.

I think Barcelona and the name Xavi have become one. You've become an unprecedented legend for the club, right? Fans remember and revere you even more because of it. In the hearts of all supporters: "Xavi is Barcelona's eternal legend."

Exactly. For me, actively saying "I want to leave Barcelona" is almost impossible. Absolutely impossible. The thought of betraying Barcelona never truly crossed my mind. Because Barcelona always comes first; it's my top priority. We love Barcelona deeply; it's our family's totem and belief. As long as Barcelona still needs me and allows me to stay here, I won't even glance at offers from other clubs.

You later coached in a Gulf country, coaching Al Sadd in Qatar, right?

I lived in Qatar for six and a half years. My two children, Asia and Dan, were born there. Asia is now 10, and Dan is 7. When Laporta called me back to Camp Nou, I was coaching Al Sadd. I played for Al Sadd for four years first, and then naturally transitioned into the head coach role.

What's the difference between coaching in the Gulf region and coaching in Europe?

In essence, there isn't that much difference. The players there are very professional, eager to learn, and very willing to listen. They respected me immensely, especially since I started as their teammate and then became their head coach. My time in Qatar was one of the happiest periods of my life. The country's livability and lifestyle are amazing. I deeply love Qatar; I often say it's my second home. Life there is peaceful and harmonious, and people respect each other. We lived an almost anonymous life there, like ordinary people. In Barcelona, everyone on the street recognizes me and gathers around. While it's an honor to be recognized, sometimes you just want to take your children to see a movie quietly, but you can't; you have to wear a hat and sunglasses, which can be suffocating. But in Qatar, there were no such problems. I felt at home there, and I am very grateful to that country.

We need to bring you to India and make India your third home.

I love India. I've been to Mumbai twice, and it was an unparalleled and wonderful experience. It's a charming country, and the people are extremely warm and friendly. Their passion for football is beyond imagination! Go ahead and arrange it; I'm ready.

Can we book flights now? I'll host you in Delhi, you must come, and we'll throw a huge party for you.

Although I'm busier now than ever before, with significant responsibilities, I'm very eager to visit India. I love the people of India, and I believe we can achieve great things there.

You are launching the "Xavi Football Academy" project in India. Can you tell us more about it?

Yes, we plan to officially launch the "Xavi Academy" in India this September. This is essentially a football youth academy. We've been deeply involved in organizing summer camps in Catalonia for 28 years. This time, we have an excellent opportunity to bring the exact same coaching curriculum and the same philosophy of football to schools in India. The project will be fully rolled out in September. I am incredibly excited to be with the children there and to impart our tactical philosophy and training methods to them. Everyone can collectively enjoy the joy of football: conveying respect, responsibility, and passionately expressing themselves on the pitch. In my opinion, football is the best bond that unites people. This is a significant and grand project, and I am thrilled about it.

You're moving this project forward with my friend Zishan. Why do you admire Zishan so much?

Haha, Zishan is a very reliable, top-notch guy. He has an excellent character. We met a few months ago, and he has been in frequent communication with my brothers, Alex and Oscar, who, along with my father, have been managing the summer camps for 28 years. Our whole family is incredibly excited to jointly develop this vast platform in India.

When you bring the Xavi Academy to India, I have many influential friends with large football audiences, like Ranjit. You must meet him. I'll introduce you to them, and perhaps more sparks will fly.

That's great; I'm completely open to it. I'm an easygoing person; I love football and enjoying life. But I always believe that the first step to truly understanding football is to enjoy the process. Children at this stage must experience pure joy. Think about it, for kids aged 6 to 14 or 15, playing football must first feel fun! That's our coaching philosophy: honing genuine skills through joy: "Maintain your position, trap the ball here, pay attention to observe and support." We will definitely achieve great things in India.

Do you know what just suddenly occurred to me? There were rumors previously that the All India Football Federation had approached you to become the head coach of the Indian national team. Have you heard about this?

No, that's completely baseless.

Oh, just a rumor?

Yes, purely a groundless rumor. I remember my social media DMs were flooded at the time, all shouting "Come coach India, come to India," but in reality, no one from official Indian circles ever contacted me. It's completely fabricated; just fake news hyped by the media, it never happened.

If you're interested, do you need me to help you make connections?

Who knows what the future holds, anything is possible. (laughs) I'm sure we can do something great.

Xavi, if we team up, we can definitely make this happen.

You're the boss in India, right?

I'm too modest to say that myself; let the guys next to me brag for me. You're currently doing some cutting-edge work: integrating advanced technology and artificial intelligence into football tactical coaching. Can you share more details with us?

Yes, the company we founded is called Kognia. Because we are now fully in the age of artificial intelligence. A few friends and I co-developed this tactical tool. By setting up dedicated tactical cameras on and above the pitch, this AI system can automatically analyze in real-time whether your tactical operations are reasonable and effective. Its accuracy is astounding.

Really?

Absolutely. When I first personally tested this tool, its powerful capabilities left me speechless.

What specific dimensions of information can this tool present? Help me visualize it.

For example: the opponent's defense has a back four. As the game progresses, the system monitors that whenever we pass the ball to Messi, the opponent's center-back habitually gets out of position to press. When he presses, a defensive blind spot is inevitably exposed behind him. As a coach on the sidelines, immersed in a rapidly changing game, I need to consider countless details in attack and defense, and may not catch this pattern immediately. But the defensive vacuum is indeed torn open. The Kognia system will immediately issue a tactical warning: "Look at this space! The opponent's center-back presses very frequently!" Pedro sees the opportunity and runs into space! Exactly! Pedro and Villa then directly penetrate this area. This is the core value of Kognia: deep understanding of the game. It's not a cold, monotonous pile of traditional data, because football today is full of big data: number of passes, possession rate, corners... While those are useful, Kognia can get straight to the tactical essence and tell you directly: "An open player will appear in this area; the solution is here." The same applies defensively: "Watch out, this opponent is cutting at high speed into the blind side of the defense." This is Kognia, an intelligent system that truly understands the logic of football tactics. We are the first AI tool in the world to create full-dimensional "tactical semantic data."

In chess and poker, AI has been deeply researched for many years. The first 15 moves of chess openings have been almost completely figured out; people have used AI to solve these games. Do you think this scene will be replayed in the world of football in the future? Will optimal solutions for formations and tactics also be deduced by AI?

The Kognia system will provide unprecedented powerful assistance to head coaches, technical directors, and national football associations. You can even use it for advanced comparative analysis of players. For example, if you want to identify a defender with extremely strong man-marking ability, who can tightly cover a target in the penalty area when defending high crosses, you just need to input the tactical requirements, and the system can precisely compare the deep data of numerous candidates in actual defensive confrontations. This is the power of Kognia; it will profoundly reshape and drive the evolution of the global football industry.

Will you use it at the Euros?

I've already fully implemented it. One could even say I was the first in the world to put this system into practical coaching, because it was developed by our own company, and I promoted it across the entire team back when I was coaching Al Sadd in Qatar. We installed dedicated cameras in all the local stadiums. Currently, our collaborative network already covers top global institutions: Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, the Mexican Football Federation, the Norwegian Football Federation, the Qatar Football Association, and many top clubs around the world are using it. We hope all clubs and federations will benefit from it in the future. This marks the beginning of a new era.

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