Barcelona have named their ‘B’ side coach Sergi Barjuan as interim manager following the departure of Ronald Koeman, the La Liga club said in a statement on Thursday.

Dutchman Koeman was sacked by the club after Wednesday night’s 1-0 league defeat by Rayo Vallecano, their fourth defeat in six games in all competitions. Former Barca midfielder Xavi, at present the coach of Qatari side Al Sadd, is the club’s first choice to replace Koeman.

“(Barjuan) shall be taking provisional charge of the

technical management of the senior squad. His interim position as first team head coach shall end as soon as the club has hired (a) full-time head coach to replace the dismissed Ronald Koeman,” the club said in a statement.

Koeman, whose side are ninth in the La Liga with 15 points from ten games, will receive a payout understood to be around 11.8 million euros.

Barjuan will have the task of preparing the side for the La Liga clash with Alaves in which the Catalan club will be seeking to avoid a third successive league defeat. They face a crucial Champions League match away to Dynamo Kyiv on November 2 when defeat would leave them in serious danger of failing to reach the knockout phase.

Xavi. File photo

Koeman, who spent six years with Barca as a player, was brought back to the club in August 2020 by former president Josep Maria Bartomeu. The new chief, Joan Laporta, however, frequently made it clear that the Dutchman was not his appointment.

The duo had a tenuous relationship, with Koeman last month releasing a statement calling for him to be given time to rebuild after losing Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann in the transfer window.

After the defeat to Real Madrid on Sunday, Koeman’s car was surrounded by some Barcelona supporters, whom he later dismissed as “uneducated people”.

It looks increasingly likely that Barca will settle for ‘old boy’ Xavi. The 41-year-old enjoyed a trophy-laden 17-year career at Barcelona during its golden era.

The former Spain international has always said it was his “dream” to manage Barcelona. “I can’t deny that I would love to manage Barcelona. I dream about it and it’s one of my biggest aspirations,” Xavi had told The Times, London, last August.