MASCHERANO: XAVI WILL BECOME BARCA MANAGER SOMEDAY

Although the Spanish club only recruited Ronald Koeman as their head coach, different rumors have still found their way into the spotlight about who will be the team’s next manager. When Barcelona fired QuiqueSetien as their manager last season, several reports started making the rounds linking different managers to the available vacancy.

Former Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri was one of the top candidates linked to the job, while Thomas Tuchel (when he was still at Paris Saint-Germain) was also another name mentioned. Former Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri, who was struggling at Juventus, became the third name on the list as the Barca boss deliberated carefully on who to assign as their next manager.

Then from nowhere, the former manager of the Netherlands national team, Ribald Koeman, came into the spotlight as the manager the club have decided to go for. He agreed to the offer presented to him by the club and it then became official; he was the new Barcelona manager. The deal was also finalized at a time when club captain Lionel Messi was making his intention known that he was ready to leave the club, leaving the club in some sort of internal crisis.

The crisis then had a hand in making the Catalan giants suffer a poor run of form during the opening weeks of Koeman’s reign in charge, leading to talks of him facing the sack. But after some time, he was able to restore balance in the team and they started playing some fantastic football, grinding out positive results in the process.

Having started the season on the back foot, they have regained their balance and are now only five points behind leaders Atletico Madrid with a game in hand. Despite their recent fine form, the club’s former player Javier Mascherano says that even though he does not know when, Xavi will manage the club one day.