Barcelona Presidential Hopeful Plots Koeman Dismissal If Elected
Barcelona presidential hopeful Victor Font has sensationally claimed that newly-appointed manager Ronald Koeman will be sacked and replaced by Xavi Hernandez if he is elected in next year’s elections.
Koeman was appointed as Barcelona’s new manager on a two-year deal on Wednesday following the dismissal of Quique Setien two days prior.
Barcelona are set to hold elections in March next year to elect a new club president and Font will contest incumbent Jose Maria Bartomeu and former president Joan Laporta for the position.
Former Barcelona captain Xavi Hernandez, who currently manages Qatari side Al Sadd, has long been linked with taking charge of his former club.
Font is adamant no amount of success Koeman enjoys in the Camp Nou dugout will be enough to prevent Xavi from taking over under his stewardship.
"If I am president, Koeman will not be the coach," Font told Cadena SER.
"Koeman is a legend of Barcelona. We have to thank him very much that with the complexity that exists today in the club, and in the dressing room, and with the decisions that have to be made, he has taken on the challenge [of being head coach].
"We must wish him the best of success and hopefully we win the treble. If in the end it were necessary and he wanted to, he could still contribute to our project in some way, but we will apply our project in its main structure from the vice president all the way down to the last youth football coach based on the organisation chart that we have prepared for a long time."
“Xavi understands that all the pieces of the club have to fit together," Font added.
"A board of directors that lets whoever leads the sports project do his work, which in our case would be him.”
