Barcelona: Barcelona are considering other possible coaches besides former player Xavi Hernández to take over for the fired Ronald Koeman. This information was given Friday by Barcelona’s president Joan Laporta. He faced a barrage of questions about the widespread speculation linking Xavi to the position. Each time, Laporta lauded the former midfielder while not revealing details of the job hunt.
“The name of Xavi is all over the news but Barçelona has other options,” Laporta said, without giving names. “I have never changed what I say about Xavi. One day he will become the coach of Barcelona. I would even like for that to be while I am in charge. What I don’t know is when. It is true that the scouting reports we have on him are very good. All the inputs and news we have on Xavi are good, even though he has not been coaching a long time,” the Barcelona president added.
The 41-year-old Xavi is currently coaching Qatari club Al-Sadd. It is a team he joined after leaving Barcelona in 2015 following 25 titles in 17 seasons. He played for Al-Sadd until becoming the team’s coach in 2019.
Laporta started his second stint as Barcelona president midway through last season. His predecessor had stepped down amid the club’s financial crisis and the team’s poor results.
Laporta said he often speaks with Xavi, who played for Barcelona during Laporta’s first stint as president, ‘as friends’. They also like to chat about the Barcelona football team.
Koeman was let go Wednesday following a 0-1 loss at Rayo Vallecano that left Barcelona in ninth place in the Spanish league. The defeat came after painful losses to Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Benfica and Bayern Munich this season.
Barcelona promoted reserve team coach Sergi Barjuan the next day to act as caretaker coach. Laporta said Barjuan will be in charge for Saturday’s home game against Alavés and possibly next week’s Champions League match at Dynamo Kyiv.
Laporta thanked Koeman, a former Barcelona defender, for taking over the team at the start of last season when it was already having difficulties competing with Europe’s elite.
“Koeman is a man of this club who will always remain in its collective memory,” Laporta said. “He also won a Copa del Rey title as our coach, but he didn’t continue because the results were not going his way. The situation was unsustainable,” added Laporta.