The options on the table to replace Ronald Koeman

Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman’s future is on the line. The club are mulling over various options to replace him. “We know what we have to do to fix it,” said president Joan Laporta, indicating Koeman’s time is up.

The most probable arrival is Roberto Martinez. ‘Bob’ is in charge of the Belgian national team and, accompanied by Thierry Henry, the Catalan has been praised for his work. His style would fit at Barca and the board like him. The problem is it would be hard to convince him ahead of the 2022 World Cup.

Obviously Xavi’s name is still linked. However it won’t be easy to convince him to come mid-season, again ahead of the Qatar World Cup, which is where he is based with Al-Sadd.

Jordi Cruyff seems difficult. He’s ruled himself out of the job, and is the club’s current international scouting director and sporting assessor. He has already been offered the role by Laporta and turned it down.

Then there are two remote options, from Italy. Antonio Conte and Andrea Pirlo. The former’s style is far from what Laporta wants, while the latter struggled with Juventus.