Barcelona boss Xavi is reportedly after a mammoth pay rise to commit his future to the La Liga champions.
The former Blaugrana midfielder has immediately stamped his authority onto the Barca squad since leaving Qatari giants Al-Sadd in 2021, delivering the La Liga title and Supercopa de Espana crowns this season.
A 4-2 victory over Catalonian rivals Espanyol last weekend sealed the top-flight crown with four games to spare, which masked the disappointment of another premature European exit.
After finishing third in their Champions League group behind Bayern Munich and Inter Milan, Barca went down 4-3 on aggregate to Manchester United in the Europa League playoff round, but those continental shortcomings have not impacted Xavi's standing with the powers-that-be.
The 43-year-old is only under contract at Camp Nou until 2024, but president Joan Laporta confirmed earlier this year that the club are in talks to extend the manager's deal, and they are planning to keep working with Xavi for many years.
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Barca's financial predicament is not as dire as it was when Xavi took over in 2021, but the Catalan giants are still under pressure to reduce the wage bill of their playing squad by as much as €200m (£173.8m) this summer, and such economic concerns could also impact talks with the head coach.
According to Marca, Barcelona are hoping to strike an agreement to renew Xavi's deal by another two years until 2026, but the Spaniard is demanding a "very significant" salary rise on the back of a successful campaign.
The report adds that Xavi's demands would almost double the wage that he is receiving right now, and Barcelona have been taken aback by their manager's financial requests.
As a result, there is yet to be a breakthrough in negotiations on the economic front, although Xavi's proposed wage would still be nowhere near the likes of Manchester City's Pep Guardiola or Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp, the latter of whom is thought to be earning €17m (£14.8m) a year at Anfield.
Xavi apparently agreed to a substantially lower wage than normal for Barcelona managers last year given the club's difficulties, but with their situation improving, he expects that to be reflected in his pay packet.
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The former Spain international holds a certain degree of power in negotiations given that he has won two trophies this season, and he is said to be unhappy that he is being paid less than several members of the squad.
Talks are set to continue with Laporta and vice president Mateu Alemany - who has snubbed interest from Aston Villa to continue at Camp Nou - in the coming days, but there is reportedly no rush to thrash out an agreement given that Xavi is still under contract for another season.
The 43-year-old boasts an impressive record of 55 wins, 15 draws and 17 defeats from his 87 games in charge of Barcelona, who suffered a surprise 2-1 loss to Real Sociedad on Saturday.
La Blaugrana return to action away to Real Valladolid on Tuesday night before hosting Mallorca and travelling to Celta Vigo in their final two games of the 2022-23 season.
Ben Knapton
