The end of Ronald Koeman era at Barca. The 1-0 defeat away to Rayo Vallecano forced the Barca board into action and the Dutchman was sacked just a few hours after the game.
The Dutchman has left the club just one year after former president Josep Maria Bartomeu resigned before a vote of no confidence was due to be held.
Things are not going well at the club and that is despite Joan Laporta taking over. However, the new Barca president has found the club in a difficult financial situation and now they have to try and find a new coach.
Despite having guaranteed Koeman will stay on in the past, Laporta decided to sack him just after midnight on Wednesday night into Thursday morning. Now, there are several possibilities for him.
It is well known that Laporta has always gone after Xavi Hernandez. The current Al-Sadd coach has made his availability be known on the odd occasion, he is eager to go to Barcelona and that is why he has a clause in his contract which allows him to join the club if they come calling.
‘El Partidazo de COPE‘ points out that the former Barca footballer is the big favorite and Helena Condis gave more details on it. The journalist revealed that a person very close to Xavi confirmed that he is close to joining, with the idea of coaching the side from the November international break. The only thing it requires is for both clubs to reach an agreement.
In the meantime, Fabrizio Romano says that contacts between Xavi and Barca began weeks ago, but that the signing has not yet been made official because some issues with the Qatari club have to be resolved. In addition, the Italian journalist said that Barca B team coach Sergi Barjuan is expected to become caretaker boss until then. In fact, he is expected to be the coach against Alaves.
The other name which has appeared in the list of candidates has been that of Marcelo Gallardo. The current River Plate coach has been on the club’s agenda for some time because of his great coaching career at the Argentinian side. However, Xavi is Xavi and everything seems to indicate he will be the one to take over.
