There's fresh claims that senior players inside the Barcelona locker room were eager to see former coach Ernesto Valverde removed.

Yesterday in an interview with Sport, football chief Eric Abidal admitted some players weren't happy with Valverde - a claim which produced a stinging rebuke from Lionel Messi on social media.

However, El Larguero reports before Valverde's dismissal that Messi, Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets were all in contact with Xavi. The Al Sadd coach held talks with Abidal about succeeding Valverde last month but eventually turned Barca down.

It's claimed the senior trio never sought to undermine Valverde, but did make it clear to Xavi that he would be welcome as head coach in the future.