Jake is a Football and Entertainment betting expert, with a Man City season ticket and a deep knowledge of reality TV betting angles
- Former player Xavi bookies favourite at 1/5 with return looking likely
- Koeman sacked after atrocious run with Barcelona out to 12/1 to win La Liga
- Antonio Conte and Roberto Martinez joint second favs in market at 10/1
Former Barcelona player Xavi favourite to take over at Barcelona
Xavi Hernandez looks set to make an emotional return to Barcelona after the sacking of Ronaldo Koeman left the Spanish giants managerless, with the team sat in 9th place in La Liga.
After a dismal defeat to Rayo Vallecano last night, Barcelona's board pulled the plug on Koeman's reign and Xavi was instantly put into favourite in the next manager market with bookmakers.
Xavi is known for his time at Barcelona, playing over 500 games for the club in a time where they were one of the greatest teams in Europe and one of the best teams that has ever been.
Under manager Pep Guardiola they won it all and that Xavi and Andreas Iniesta partnership is well known as one of the best midfield pairings of all time.
A return to the Nou Camp for Xavi would make it fairly easy for the fans to get on side with the manager and team and this will be playing on the minds of the Barcelona board, with the fans seemingly finding it hard to be on Koeman's side.
Xavi is currently manager of Qatari side Al-Sadd and has been in that role for 2 years now. In those two years he has won 7 trophies with the club including the Qatar Stars League and two Qatar Cups so he has had success there.
Ronald Koeman sacked by Barcelona after a poor run
It's fair to say that Barcelona have been bad this season and the sacking of Ronald Koeman has not come as a surprise to many, with Barcelona flirting with the option for the last month.
Barcelona have picked up just 15 points from their first 10 games in La Liga this year and have lost two Champions League games already this campaign.
For a club of Barca's stature that just isn't good enough and Koeman himself will know that. Such is Barcelona's dire financial situation that it's looked like they may not have been able to afford the sacking of Koeman, with a reported €10m pay off a big cost for the club currently.
After a dismal defeat to Rayo Vallecano last night though, the first time Barcelona have lost 3 away games in a row without scoring since 1987, the club have pulled the trigger on Koeman's reign.
With failure at Everton and Barcelona and a spell as Netherland's manager in between, it's tough to see where Koeman goes next.
Xavi shows his managerial style:
Antonio Conte and Roberto Martinez joint second favourites in market
Betting sites have installed Antonio Conte and Roberto Martinez as 10/1 joint second favourites in a market in which Xavi is a clear outright favourite at 1/5 odds.
Everyone else apart from Xavi is double figure odds in the market which shows that bookies think they're only appointing one person.
Antonio Conte is the favourite in the next Manchester United manager market so it may be that Conte would prefer to go to Manchester rather than Barcelona in his next role.
In brutal honesty Barcelona look like a club that is in disarray at the moment though and it may be that no manager actually wants to go to the club in it's current state, especially with the departure of Lionel Messi last window meaning they're now without their talisman.
| Next Barcelona Manager | Odds | Probability |
|---|---|---|
| Xavi Hernandez | 1/5 | 83.3% |
| Antonio Conte | 10/1 | 9.1% |
| Roberto Martinez | 10/1 | 9.1% |
| Andrea Pirlo | 16/1 | 5.9% |
