Former real Madrid scouts revealed that the current Barca boss Xavi is very close to leaving Barcelona to join the Galaxy in his teens. Xavi is considered one of the greatest players in Barcelona's history and is now back at the club as a coach. He suddenly appeared on the team as a teenage prodigy in the late 1990s, but initially Harvey was frustrated that he wasn't getting enough game time. In January 1999, during Barcelona's home match against Athletic Bilbao, Xavi was left on the bench and coach Luis van Gaal chose Guardiola. This infuriated Xavi's father, Joaquin, who immediately complained to Real Madrid's Scout Manuel Angel Romero in Catalonia.
"They don't know what kind of players they have, what kind of players Harvey is, it seems like they're only focusing on Pep," Joaquin told Romero. "If you want, tomorrow we'll go to (Real) Madrid." Romero relayed Xavi's father's frustrations to Paco Jimenez while he was working with Real Madrid coach Del Bosque. "I said to Paco: 'S**t, did you hear me? Told the club,'" Romero told the media. "He looked at me very seriously." What do you want? Get in trouble? Paco answered me. "In the end, the transfer didn't work out and Xavi will soon replace Guardiola as Barcelona's key midfielder before making history at the club. Guardiola has since failed to regain his first-team position and will leave the club to join Brescia in 2001.
"Of course, I'll sign Harvey," Romero recalled. "I wanted to sign him when he was very young. We belong to the same category of people. Harvey is a little younger, but he's already played official games. He was amazing! I want to sign him. I talked to his father and we talked about how to give him the right environment to grow up in. But then Monsieur Orio came, and naturally, he went to Barcelona. It was what he dreamed of and wanted to do. Xavi will face Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup in Riyadh on Wednesday, when he will host his first Spanish national derby as head coach.