Barcelona Reportedly Reaches Agreement With Xavi After Firing Ronald Koeman

The Dutchman was sacked late Wednesday after spending 14 months at Camp Nou. His dismissal came after Barcelona lost to Rayo Vallecano. The Blaugrana are now ranked ninth and lag 6 points behind the leaders of the table.

Barcelona has reportedly reached an agreement with former Blaugrana star Xavi Hernandez to replace Ronald Koeman, the Spanish news website Sport has reported, citing anonymous sources. According to the outlet, the sides are now discussing the termination of his contract with the Qatari football club Al Sadd, which the legendary midfielder has coached since 2019. Per reports, Barca may pay the club over $1 million.

Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano stated that Barcelona had begun contract negotiations with Xavi weeks before it fired Ronald Koeman.

The athlete himself previously admitted that it is his dream to return to Camp Nou as a manager.

"My ideal is to coach Barca, that is my goal and my dream and I have never hidden it. I don't know if it will happen or not, whether they even need me or not, but for the moment I'm also happy at Al Sadd", Xavi said in January 2020.

Incidentally, football superstar Lionel Messi wanted to see his ex-teammate at the helm of the club too. According to Sportbible, prior to his departure from Camp Nou in August, the Argentine told the club's officials that Xavi would be the ideal candidate to take charge of Barcelona.

Late on Wednesday, Barcelona announced that it had fired Dutchman Ronald Koeman who spent 14 months at Camp Nou. His dismissal comes as the club displayed its worst performance in decades – Barca has earned only 15 points from 10 games, losing three away matches without scoring a goal.

Under his management, Barcelona won the Copa del Rey last season and finished third. This year the club is ranked ninth and lags 6 points behind joint leaders Real Madrid, Sevilla, and Real Betis.

The club said that Koeman will say goodbye to the players on Thursday.