Likened to Cruyff and Pep, endorsed by Messi, Barca icons agree Xavi is the man

Barcelona dropped two points at home to Granada on Monday night, with the nature of the 1-1 draw pushing Koeman closer to the exit door at the Camp Nou.

The club are in the midst of a financial crisis with their greatest ever player, Lionel Messi, departing on a free transfer to PSG.

And things only got worse on Monday, as one of his replacements, Luuk de Jong, missed an easy headed chance. Things got so desperate Koeman got Gerard Pique to play up front.

Reports are now emerging that Barcelona's board are waiting to line up a replacement before sacking Koeman, with one of their all-time greats in Xavi on the shortlist.

The midfield metronome was one of the key men in creating Barca and Spain's period of dominance between 2008-2014, and has long been linked with a return to manage the club since retiring in 2015.

The 41-year-old has resisted the club's advances so far, remaining in Qatar with Al Sadd who he's managed since 2019.

However, there are a number of Barcelona greats desperate for Xavi to return and manage the team, as revealed in the 2018 documentary Take the Ball, Pass the Ball.

Dani Alves, the most decorated player in the history of football with 43 trophies, had an excellent car analogy for what Xavi's return would mean.

"It's a bit like the best cars," the flying right back said. "[Johan] Cruyff was the first great model, the Mark 1, and Pep [Guardiola] is the Mark 2.

"But I think Xavi will be in the same league when he returns as coach. When he comes back, he'll be the Mark 3."

Messi agreed with his former teammate, saying: "I've got no doubt that he'll be back as a coach one day.

"He deserves the chance because of the type of player he was here. He'll make an amazing manager.

"As a player he saw the whole picture from the pitch, I'm sure from the side-lines he'll see it even clearer."

Xavi has so far picked up five trophies in Qatar, with clips of his Al Sadd side replicating Barca's Tiki-taka style often going viral.

He has since been joined in the Middle East by Santi Cazorla and Andre Ayew as they aim for another title.

Sergio Busquets formed a legendary midfield trio with Xavi and Andres Iniesta, winning five league titles, three Champions Leagues, and a World Cup together and believes Xavi is the right man for the job.

Next Barcelona manager odds

5/2, Roberto Martinez

10/3, Xavi Hernandes

5/1, Andrea Pirlo

5/1, Antonio Conte

9/1, Domenec Torrent

9/1, Erik ten Hag

9/1, Mikel Arteta

"He'll be back one day, I don't know when but he wants to come back and he has the same football philosophy as Pep," Busquets said.

Former Barca and Spain teammate Victor Valdes agreed, adding: "Barca's future needs to be in the hands of someone with Xavi's talent and vision."

Take the Ball, Pass the Ball focused on Cruyff handing down his philosophy to Guardiola, who has passed it on to Xavi.

Cruyff's son Jordi, who is now a sporting advisor at Barcelona, talked about his father's admiration for Xavi.

"In my father's mind, he was always 'el listo de la clase' the intelligent one of the class, the clever guy," Jordi Cruyff said.

"The only problem will be that when already now everybody is pumping this up, then the pressure's too high.

"But if he follows his way little by little, clam like Pep did, then you're ready for it. And I hope one day Xavi will do that."

Koeman received plenty of criticism during Monday's 1-1 draw, with his introduction of long ball tactics unpalatable for many of the club's supporters.

Xavi said of Barca's style during the documentary: "We believe in this philosophy, which is improved every year and by each Barca manager.

"But the day things start to go wrong, and let's hope that isn't for another 200 years, but if it happens, we must never consider changing our playing style.

"Our unique philosophy should never change. Never."

Unfortunately for Xavi it already has, the question now is if he can be the man to save it.

President Joan Laporta knows he will have a big decision to make and posted on social media that he 'knows what needs to be done'.

He wrote: "Thank you for supporting our team, culers. I ask you to continue doing it. We know what needs to be done to solve this situation. We are Barça."

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