Barcelona new coach 2021: Xavi chosen as the man to replace Koeman

Barcelona are already hard at work trying to replace Ronald Koeman, having dismissed the Dutchman after their 1-0 loss to Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday night.

Joan Laporta has chosen Xavi Hernandez as the man he wants in charge at the Camp Nou, and the president has had the former midfielder in mind since before the Atletico Madrid defeat. Since then, there has been contact with the coach to sound him out.

Xavi gave the thumbs up, despite the problems Barcelona are facing. He believes he can turn things around there, despite back-to-back defeats against Real Madrid and Rayo in the last week.

Overnight sacking

The loss to Rayo started a storm. Laporta sacked Koeman on the flight back to Barcelona and is now focusing everything on getting Xavi to return to the club.

Xavi wants to join, and the only obstacle now is Barcelona having to negotiate with Al Sadd to free him from his contract, which runs until after the Qatar World Cup in 2022.

The plan wouldn't see him arrive immediately, as instead he would likely come during the next international break in November, before which the Catalans have three games to play against Alaves, Dynamo Kyiv and Celta Vigo.

An interim coach would likely take charge of those matches.

Who is the interim?

Two names are on the table to take temporary charge in the form of Sergi Barjuan and Albert Capellas.

Barjuan was the main candidate immediately after Koeman's sacking on Wednesday night, but Capellas emerged as an option on Thursday morning. Both are currently at the club.