'He is a great coach'- Eto'o on Xavi's suitability for Barcelona twitter facebook reddit twitter facebook reddit

Samuel Eto'o stylishly dodged a question over Xavi's preparedness to become Barcelona's next permanent manager.

The Spaniard has been linked to take charge of the Blaugrana following the sacking of Ronald Koeman whose 14-month reign at Camp Nou came to an end following Barca's 1-0 defeat to Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday.

Xavi is currently the manager of Qatar top-flight side Al Sadd and he has won five trophies with the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium giants since he took charge in 2019.

While the four-time African Player of the Year refused to be drawn on whether his former teammate is ready for the Barcelona job, he claimed that the Spaniard is a good manager.

"Xavi is my brother, and he is a great coach. The other day I saw him enjoy a lot after winning the Emir Cup [with Al Sadd]. He is great," Eto'o told Marca.

Goal confirmed that the former midfielder has been offered the job by the Catalan, but his Qatar based outfit stated that the 41-year-old's mind is only set on the Boss.

"In response to what's been circulating recently, Al Sadd management reaffirms that Xavi has a two-year contract with the club," Al Sadd said in a statement made available to the media.

"Xavi is fully focused on the team's upcoming matches, to maintain our lead at the top of the league and to defend the title."

Meanwhile, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is backing his compatriot to replace Koeman, stating that Xavi has more managerial experience than he did when he took the job.

"First of all, I don't know what will happen. They have an interim manager and I wish him luck," Guardiola told his pre-match press conference, referencing caretaker boss Sergi Barjuan.

"Xavi, if it happens, I don't have any doubts that he's ready to do the job.

"He knows the environment which is so important. He knows the game, he has passion.

"He has more experience now than I had when I took over. If Xavi is the next manager, I wish him all the best and hopefully step by step the team can come back."