Atletico Madrid star Luis Suarez has warned his old Barcelona team-mate Xavi against rushing into taking the manager’s job at the Nou Camp now.
Ronald Koeman is struggling badly with Barca, and his future seems in serious doubt after the team were beaten 3-0 by Benfica in the Champions League last night.
Guillem Balague, via BBC Sport, has suggested that it’s only a matter of time before Koeman is shown the door by Barcelona, and one imagines Xavi is likely to be one of the leading candidates to replace the Dutchman.
The former midfielder is one of the Catalan giants’ all-time great players, and fans will hope he can one day do a similar job as a coach.
Xavi is currently in charge of Al Sadd in Qatar, so it remains to be seen if moving into a job as big as Barcelona would be right for him at the moment.
Suarez is certainly cautious about it, with the Uruguay international quoted by Sport as warning that now probably isn’t the best moment for Xavi to take over.
“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 said.
“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.”
He added: “I see him as a very qualified coach” and that a future return to Barcelona could allow him “to be great as a coach as he was as a player.”