Luis Suarez rips into Barcelona bosses and sends Xavi manager warning

Luis Suarez has told his former team-mate Xavi to snub Barcelona should they offer him the managerial job.

Ronald Koeman's days at the Camp Nou appear numbered after a miserable start to the new campaign.

A comprehensive 3-0 defeat to Benfica followed up Bayern Munich's victory over the Blaugrana by the same scoreline.

It leaves their Champions League hopes in a perilous position, with reports suggesting Koeman could face the axe imminently.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has regularly asked for patience from supporters, but tellingly, has never offered his public support to the under-fire manager.

Ronald Koeman is set to be sacked as Barcelona manager, according to reports ( Image:

AFP via Getty Images)

According to reports, Laporta is ready to wield the axe and Barca chiefs are already looking into possible replacements.

One name believed to be in the frame is legendary midfielder Xavi, who has enjoyed a positive start to his coaching career with Al-Sadd in Qatar.

Xavi is widely recognised as one of Barca's greatest ever players, winning eight LaLiga titles and four Champions League crowns.

Many anticipate that the Spaniard will be offered the role, but Suarez, who left the club in acrimonious circumstances in 2020, has told him to wait.

"As a soccer fan and what he has done as a player, I don't think that today, tomorrow or the day after is the time to catch the team," Suarez told SPORT.

"He is intelligent and knows the difficulty of the club. He must wait for the moment. He has colleagues inside with whom he will have to make decisions and it will be difficult."

Despite his instruction to not take the job, Suarez is confident that Xavi will thrive as a manager, adding: "I see him as a very qualified coach" and is backing him "to be as great as a coach as he was as a player."

Xavi has enjoyed great success at Al-Sadd ( Image:

AFP via Getty Images)

Suarez had choice words for Koeman when he left for Atletico Madrid last summer, claiming he failed to face up to the decision that he was to be sold.

"Koeman's words were: 'They [the directors] told me to tell you,'" Suarez told radio station Cope earlier this year. "I was made to train separately [from the first team] and left out of the squad for the three friendlies.

"Then, Koeman said that if my future was not resolved, he was counting on me for the first game of the season against Villarreal.

Luis Suarez took aim at Barca bosses and urged Xavi to snub the chance to become manager ( Image:

FC BARCELONA/MIGUEL RUIZ/HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

"That is when you see that he didn't have the character to tell me that he didn't want me himself."

Suarez also took aim at Laporta, adding: "I will always be grateful to the club, but they used me. He said everything in the press instead of phoning me personally to say the club didn't want me.

"Why did he not call me directly? They phoned when they wanted me to convince [Messi] to stay and to speak with [Antoine] Griezmann [about signing]. They should have explained the situation to me."