Barcelona raise question marks over Ronald Koeman's leadership, board eyeing club legend as Dutchman's replacement - Reports   

Barcelona's hierarchy continue to raise doubts over the future of manager Ronald Koeman. The Dutchman replaced Quique Setien after Barcelona suffered an embarrassing 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinal in 2020.

Although Koeman hasn't suffered any shambolic defeats with Barcelona so far, he also hasn't been able to lead Barcelona to the La Liga title yet. The Blaugrana are still 2 points behind leaders Atletico Madrid with 3 games to go.

El Barça sigue teniendo muchas dudas acerca de la continuidad de Ronald Koeman. Se considera que el holandés plantea de forma inadecuada los partidos y se tiene muy en cuenta la falta de victorias ante equipos importantes. No acaba de gustar, vía @gerardromero. #FCBarcelona pic.twitter.com/eTsxyvosXu

— Miquel Blázquez (@BlazquezFont) May 9, 2021

Barcelona board looking to replace Koeman with Xavi

Barcelona president Joan Laporta reportedly made contact with club legend Xavi Hernandez as a potential replacement for Ronald Koeman in the Barcelona dugout.

Laporta has been quite vocal about the fact that Ronald Koeman wasn't the ideal manager to lead Barcelona into a new era. Instead, Laporta was eyeing then RB Leipzig manager Julian Nagelsmann for the Barcelona job, but the German is now set to join Bayern Munich.

With Barcelona crashing out of the Champions League in the round of 16 and the La Liga title still uncertain, the board is strongly considering replacing Koeman with one of their own.

Laporta is not impressed by any of the currently available managers and believes Xavi would be the ideal fit for the club.

Xavi was a player before manager at Al Sadd. (Photo by Neville Hopwood/Getty Images for Qatar 2022)

However, Xavi is reportedly on the cusp of signing a new deal with Al Sadd. According to rumors, though, Xavi's contract with Al Sadd is set to have a clause similar to what Koeman had in his contract with the Dutch national team. It states that Xavi would be allowed to leave Al Sadd if Barcelona came calling for his services.

Another option Barcelona have is to promote Barcelona B's manager García Pimienta, who said in a recent interview that he was ready to take charge if required.

🇶🇦 🎙 Xavi Hernández: "I'm close to renewing with Al Sadd. My departure from the team is just a rumor and I am very happy to work with these players and this club." pic.twitter.com/a6BfVhaRDX

— FCBarcelonaFl 🏆 🏆 (@FCBarcelonaFl) May 8, 2021

Despite Laporta being unimpressed with Ronald Koeman, the Dutchman did manage to deliver a trophy at the Nou Camp as Barcelona defeated Athletic Bilbao 4-0 to win the Copa Del Rey last month.

However, Barcelona haven't won the Champions League since 2015, and the board is hungry for success on the European stage.

Barcelona will be hoping that bringing in a legend as manager will have the same impact as when Real Madrid brought in Zinedine Zidane in 2016.