The worst kept secret in football is finally a reality.
Late on Friday night, Barcelona announced on their official website that former midfielder, Xavi Hernandez, would be returning to the club as its new manager, taking the place of Ronald Koeman, sacked by Joan Laporta after one defeat too many.
Clearly, the club are hoping for a return to winning ways but, as importantly, if not more so, a return to the type of football that made them the envy of other clubs.
Listening to Xavi when speaking to The Coaches’ Voice, one can see the lineage from Cruyff to Guardiola to Xavi.
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If he’s half as successful as his two predecessors whilst playing the ‘Barca way,’ there’ll not be too many complaints from the Camp Nou faithful.
The one thing Xavi will need is time. Time to get his feet back under the table and time to mould and shape the team into one in his image.
That isn’t going to happen overnight.
Barca being sat atop the European tree again could be years away, however, Xavi is the right man to lead them there.