"I have a lot of confidence in him to get the club out of this situation" - Rivaldo says he'd like Xavi to replace Ronald Koeman at Barcelona

Former Barcelona attacker Rivaldo has backed legendary midfielder Xavi Hernandez to take over the reigns at Barcelona and help turn things around at Camp Nou. Barcelona parted ways with Dutch manager Ronald Koeman after their 1-0 loss to Rayo Vallecano in La Liga on Wednesday night.

Barcelona are currently a club in turmoil on and off the pitch. The Spanish giants are in ninth-place in the league table after winning just four of their opening ten games in La Liga this season. Barcelona are also facing debts totalling up to €1.35 billion. This forced them to part ways with Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann this summer.

Despite showing their support towards Ronald Koeman in recent weeks, Barcelona's hierarchy decided to part ways with the former Netherlands manager. This comes after a poor run of defeats, first against Real Madrid in El Clasico and now on Wednesday.

Former Barcelona forward Rivaldo has backed Xavi to become Barcelona's next manager and lead the club back to where it belongs.

"I have a lot of confidence in him to get the club out of this situation," said Rivaldo on Instagram.

Xavi made 767 appearances for Barcelona in all competitions during his 17 years with the club and contributed 85 goals. He helped the club win eight La Ligas, three Copa del Rey's and four Champions League titles. He went on to become one of the best midfielders of all time.

Xavi became the manager of Qatari club Al Sadd during the 2019-20 season. Xavi helped the club reach the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League and had three domestic tournaments triumphs.

The 41-year-old spent 24 years with Barcelona as a youth player and as a professional footballer. The former Spain midfielder is therefore seen as the ideal successor to Ronald Koeman at Barcelona.

Barcelona must give Xavi time and funds to rejuvenate the club if they decide to hire him as their new manager

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Despite being in ninth-place in La Liga, Barcelona possess a number of talented young players in their squad. These include Pedri, Gavi, Ronald Araujo, Ansu Fati, Sergino Dest and Ousmane Dembele.

Xavi will need time to develop these youngsters in order to get the best out of them if he is hired by Barcelona. The 41-year-old will also require funds to spend on top-quality players in order to fill certain gaps in the squad. Barcelona are desperately short of attackers and are in need of a new defensive midfielder to replace the aging Sergio Busquets.