SINGAPORE – At La Liga’s halfway mark, league leaders Barcelona are five points clear of rivals Real Madrid.

While the Catalan club are doing well without seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi, coach Xavi Hernandez’s response to a potential reunion with the superstar was clear – “Why not?”

“I think it depends on him, what he wants, what he feels,” added Xavi, who was responding to a question from The Straits Times during a virtual conference with Asian media last Friday.

“Of course Barcelona is always Messi’s home and the doors will be open for Leo, especially if I’m the coach here. But... the decision depends on Messi more than the club.”

Messi ended a 21-year stay at Barca to join Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer in 2021. Despite offering to halve his wages, he was unable to extend his Barca contract due to La Liga’s strict salary-cap rules.

Just before Messi led Argentina to the World Cup in December, PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi said the 35-year-old is “definitely” keen to stay at PSG.

However, the forward has also been linked with several clubs, including Barca, Inter Miami and Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal and Al Ittihad, the arch rivals of Cristiano Ronaldo’s new club Al Nassr.

While Barca’s record goalscorer with 672 goals in 778 appearances has yet to announce his plans, he recently reiterated that he will definitely live in Barcelona after hanging up his boots.

Xavi, who won a host of trophies with Messi during his playing days – including the La Liga seven times, the Copa del Rey thrice and Champions League four times – had a rocky start to his coaching career after taking over at the Nou Camp in November 2021.

But he has since steadied the ship. Three weeks ago, he won his first piece of silverware as Barca coach with a 3-1 win over Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup final.

Describing the victory as something that meant a lot to him, Xavi, 43, said: “At Barcelona we have an obligation to win titles... we need titles to show to everybody that we are working well.

“The most important thing in football is to win games and titles, so it means a lot for me as a coach but especially for the club.”

Despite guiding Barca from ninth to second in his first season, Xavi has twice failed to lead the club out of the Champions League group stage.

On both occasions, Barca finished third. That meant they dropped to the Europa League, where they will host Manchester United in the first leg of the knockout-round play-offs on Feb 16.

Xavi said: “I think both teams deserve to be in the Champions League but... we need to face this reality. I think Manchester United they had many problems in the last few years, and also Barcelona in the last two, three years...

“(Erik) ten Hag is doing a very good job and I think Manchester will come back and also Barcelona – we are coming back. Both are in this kind of process knowing we are both in a similar moment.”

Xavi was also asked about Ronaldo’s 2016 remarks, claiming the Spaniard became irrelevant after he left Barca for Qatar’s Al Sadd. Those comments resurfaced recently after Ronaldo joined Al Nassr in Riyadh on a 2½-year deal reportedly worth over €200 million (S$285.7 million).

Describing Ronaldo’s move as “normal as he is a professional”, Xavi added: “He will see that this is not an easy league in Saudi Arabia. It is a good competition with many foreigners. It is very difficult to win titles there and also in Qatar.

“We can never be disrespectful. Never, never. Because there are many talents everywhere, also in Qatar and in Saudi Arabia.”

Xavi, who spent four seasons as a player with Al Sadd and 2½ years there as coach, continued to praise Qatari and Asian football.

He said: “We have talent in the whole world. But especially in Asia, now Japan, South Korea, even Iran. These kinds of countries, they are working really, really hard. They are improving a lot and they are competing so well.

“We have in the modern football now a lot of players playing in Europe making a difference and they are from Asia. So yes, we have many, many talents in Asia.”

While Barcelona did not bring in more talents during the January transfer window, Chelsea raised eyebrows by splashing out a record £323.3 million (S$515.8 million) on eight new signings.

“In La Liga we have rules and we cannot avoid the rules. So this is our situation and then we signed a lot of players in the summer,” said Xavi, referring to the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Jules Kounde, who were brought in using “financial levers” to overcome the club’s limitations.

“We are happy with this squad and we have many players who are competing so well. I don’t care that we do not want to sign players in this window because I’m very happy with the many players we bought in the summer.”

He will, no doubt, be even happier if a certain Leo rejoins the squad one day.