{"id":698694,"date":"2026-05-27T22:00:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T22:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/698694\/"},"modified":"2026-05-27T22:00:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T22:00:18","slug":"broken-promises-and-missed-signings-how-xavi-pascual-barca-story-went-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/698694\/","title":{"rendered":"Broken promises and missed signings: How Xavi Pascual-Barca story went wrong"},"content":{"rendered":"

In November 2025, when Xavi Pascual<\/a> had officially returned to the FC Barcelona<\/a> bench, it seemed that a story with a happy ending was about to unfold.<\/p>\n

Pascual had been the last coach to win a EuroLeague title with Barca, and there had long been talk of a possible return to Catalonia.<\/p>\n

Barcelona was going through a rough patch, culminating in the firing of Joan Penarroya, and Xavi Pascual’s return was seen as the potential start of a new winning era for Barca, which had struggled to stay at the top of the EuroLeague in recent seasons.<\/p>\n

That hope, however, seems destined to be short-lived.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Barca offcially announced<\/a> that Xavi Pascual will leave the Catalan club at the end of this season, with the coach poised to accept a lucrative offer from Dubai Basketball<\/a>. But how did we get to this point?<\/p>\n

And how is it possible that Barcelona is letting the man who was supposed to lead the team back to the top slip away after just a few months?<\/p>\n

Broken promises <\/p>\n

When Pascual returned to Barcelona last November, he knew the situation would be difficult. Still, because he was so fond of the club, he decided to come back anyway, accepting a lower salary than what he had earned in his final seasons at Zenit.<\/p>\n

Among the requests Pascual had made to the Barca management were to add a big man midseason and to be open to additional signings in case of injuries.<\/p>\n

However, Barcelona’s basketball section had already spent extra funds to buy out Penarroya’s contract and sign Pascual, which had further limited their flexibility in the transfer market.<\/p>\n

In fact, the Catalan club did not respond to either of Pascual’s requests: they did not sign a big man, nor did they make any additional signings when Nicolas Laprovittola was sidelined for the rest of the season.<\/p>\n

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Credit Scanpix<\/p>\n

Although Pascual received assurances about a budget increase for next season following Joan Laporta’s confirmation as president, and the club has already started signing players, the coach still felt betrayed by the front office’s attitude during the season.<\/p>\n

In particular, he was disappointed by the lack of support during the team’s most difficult period.<\/p>\n

Pascual, in fact, believed that with a little help from management, the team could have at least reached the EuroLeague playoffs, thereby giving the current season a different outlook.<\/p>\n

Lack of communication <\/p>\n

Since 2021, Juan Carlos Navarro, a former club legend, has served as general manager of the Catalan team’s basketball section.<\/p>\n

The former star guard has had to navigate a challenging situation, especially following the departure of Sarunas Jasikevicius.<\/p>\n

In recent years, the front office’s philosophy has been quite clear: spend less on the head coach’s salary, first with Roger Grimau and then with Joan Penarroya, and allocate most of the available resources to the roster.<\/p>\n

Several of the decisions made by Navarro and his assistant, Mario Fernandez, however, proved misguided.<\/p>\n

One example above all was the signing of Willy Hernangomez, who arrived on a lucrative multi-year contract in 2023 and has practically never lived up to the expectations placed on him.<\/p>\n

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Credit Panagiotis Moschandreou \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

It was Navarro himself who had pushed for Xavi Pascual’s return, aware that the team needed a top-tier coach to enter a new phase. Navarro had been coached by Pascual and was part of the team that won the EuroLeague in 2010.<\/p>\n

In recent months, however, the relationship between Pascual and the basketball management has often been strained, marked by a lack of transparent communication.<\/p>\n

Josep Cubells, the main liaison between president Joan Laporta and the basketball section, has also had a series of disagreements with the Catalan coach, as reported by various Spanish media outlets, and will now be reassigned to a new role, no longer directly involved with the basketball team.<\/p>\n

Navarro and his assistant, Fernandez, are also expected to step down from their positions at the end of the season<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Laporta, in fact, holds them responsible for Pascual’s non-renewal, and pressure from fans, who have been far from satisfied with the two men’s work in recent seasons, has also played a role in this whole affair.<\/p>\n

An offer too good to be turned down <\/p>\n

When Dubai decided to fire Jurica Golemac shortly before the end of the EuroLeague regular season, virtually everyone in the European basketball community knew that the Emirati team was planning to bring in a top-tier coach ahead of the summer.<\/p>\n

Aleksander Sekulic had been signed only through the end of the season, but in the meantime, Dubai was quietly making a move for Pascual, aware of the difficulties the Catalan coach was facing at Barcelona.<\/p>\n

The UAE team offered a lucrative multi-year contract, which would make Pascual the highest-paid coach in the EuroLeague.<\/p>\n

With an offer like that, of course, it was hard to say no, especially considering that Dubai plans to build a top-tier roster.<\/p>\n

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Credit SIPA\/Scanpix<\/p>\n

Beyond the financial offer, which is certainly significant, Pascual felt that Dubai could truly offer him a highly prestigious project with excellent future potential as well.<\/p>\n

The United Arab Emirates has decided to expand its presence in the EuroLeague market, given that a team from Abu Dhabi also aims to join the competition soon, as reported by our Donatas Urbonas<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, in Dubai, Pascual is expected to have a degree of freedom in his work that he would have struggled to obtain in Barcelona, where internal power dynamics are always quite complex to navigate.<\/p>\n

A wasted opportunity <\/p>\n

Seeing Pascual return to the bench of his beloved Barcelona only to leave it within a few months is certainly a missed opportunity for the Catalan club.<\/p>\n

The recent difficult seasons in terms of results have led to the belief that a top-tier coach was needed to turn things around, but Barca’s management has been unable to meet the standards required by a coach of Xavi Pascual’s caliber.<\/p>\n

The Catalan club will almost certainly have to restructure its basketball department, not only by finding a new head coach but also a new general manager who can work in synergy with the new coach.<\/p>\n

The path that had been laid out shortly before the end of 2025, therefore, had already been lost.<\/p>\n

Barcelona plans to increase its budget ahead of next season and has already essentially finalized three signings: Moses Wright, Josh Nebo, and Oliveri Nkhamhoua.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Credit Alamy-SCANPIX<\/p>\n

In addition, negotiations with Mike James are already at a fairly advanced stage, and the American star seems willing to join the team even without Pascual, with whom he previously worked at Panathinaikos.<\/p>\n

On paper, then, Barcelona certainly has the potential to field a high-quality roster for the upcoming season, but the feeling remains that the Catalan club handled the situation with coach Pascual very poorly.<\/p>\n

Even in terms of communication, Barcelona seemed quite unprepared to address the rumors coming from outside the club.<\/p>\n

When the Spanish media reported on contacts with Ibon Navarro as a possible replacement for Pascual, Barcelona reacted only a few days later, issuing a statement denying the rumors about Navarro and confirming that Pascual would remain the coach for the following season as well.<\/p>\n

But in that statement, Barca relied exclusively on the words issued by Juan Carlos Navarro a few weeks earlier, essentially shifting the responsibility onto the GM if Pascual did not stay.<\/p>\n

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Credit ZUMAPress.com\/Scanpix<\/p>\n

Furthermore, following that statement from Barca, virtually all European media outlets, including BasketNews<\/a>, began reporting that Pascual had reached an agreement with Dubai and would exercise the buyout clause in his contract at the end of the season, contradicting the club’s official version of events.<\/p>\n

In short, the whole affair was handled in a manner far from ideal for a club of Barca’s stature, and this is not the first time in recent years that the Catalan club has stumbled into such mistakes.<\/p>\n

The hope, of course, is that Barcelona will once again become a EuroLeague contender as early as next season, but the fact remains that the Catalan team has squandered a major opportunity to rebuild a winning future in its handling of the Xavi Pascual situation.<\/p>\n

History, of course, will be the judge of that.<\/p>\n

We Witnessed Olympiacos Fans Insanity In OAKA! <\/p>\n

\"Orazio<\/p>\n

\n Orazio Cauchi started his career in basketball at 21, having worked for several years at Sportando as the lead writer of the website. He also covered several live events, including the Euroleague Final Four, Italian Cups, Serie A league finals, and EuroBasket. He also contributed to American media, such as LibertyBallers and Def Pen Hoops. Cauchi joined BasketNews in 2021 as a Staff Writer. Holds a degree in Politics & International Relations.\n <\/p>\n

About author<\/p>\n

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