Barcelona Manager Odds After Ronald Koeman

Andrea Pirlo's time in management hasn't been so spectacular. The Italian may have led Juventus to a Coppa Italia and a Supercoppa Italiana in his one-year reign as boss of the Old Lady, but instead, he was one of the main reasons the club lost their stranglehold on Serie A which forced them to forfeit the title for the first time in nine years.

Pirlo also boasted a 63% win record with the Italian giants, which although far from terrible, those eight defeats and 10 draws from 54 games handed the title back to Inter Milan and saw Juventus exit the Champions League significantly earlier than they desire once again.

The next Barcelona manager odds after Koeman for Pirlo currently sit at 4/1, not long after moving into 8/1 to take the helm too.

Belgium manager Roberto Martinez is the favourite to take over at the Nou Camp after Koeman which would be an impressive rise in credentials for the 48-year-old.

The 48-year-old is best known in England for his time at Wigan Athletic where he won the FA Cup with the Latics in 2013 against Manchester City in the final at Wembley, following a stunning late header by Ben Watson. Since then, he moved to Everton where he recorded the Toffees' second-highest Premier League finish in his first full season at Goodison Park, managing fifth-place in the 2013/14 season.

Following two more seasons that proved to be unsuccessful in his three-year spell at Everton, Martinez was sacked and ironically replaced by Koeman at Goodison Park, whilst the Spaniard went on to prove himself at international level with Belgium, managing a third-place finish at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, as well as reaching the quarter-finals at Euro 2020 where his side were knocked out by eventual winners, Italy.

The Barcelona job would be a good one for Martinez to take as he would be taking on a side with an array of high quality individuals and could effectively re-build a side that is in need of repair, via promoting youth and changing their style of football, as he did with Everton in his first year at Goodison Park and at his first managerial role at Swansea City, which effectively laid down the groundwork for Brendan Rodgers’ successes at the Liberty Stadium.

Martinez is priced at 8/1 to become Barca’s next manager - click on the link to claim this bet in your bet slip!

Barcelona club legend Xavi Hernandez is also in contention to become the next manager at the Nou Camp.

Xavi played 767 matches for Barca, which was a club record until it was broken by Lionel Messi, he played a deep central-midfield role for the club and was a mainstay in a long period of success for the Catalan club, winning eight La Liga titles, four Champions League’s amongst the 25 major honours he won in his time at the Nou Camp.

The 41-year-old left his boyhood club in 2015 to play for Al Sadd in 2015 where he won four more major honours before becoming their manager in 2019. Since becoming a manager, Xavi has shown good capability in Qatar, winning five honours in two years and has even attracted the likes of Santi Cazorla and Andre Ayew to join his side.

This move would be somewhat of a fairytale as Xavi is a legend from his playing days at the Nou Camp and this would be an excellent opportunity for the club to culturally reset and return to their roots, with attractive and expansive football, that would also see a lot of youth developed and promoted from La Masia.

Xavi is priced at 7/4 to make a sensational return to Barcelona.

Antonio Conte is also rumoured to be in the running for the Barcelona job which would certainly be a shock move, but also a calculated one.

Barcelona are currently on a two-year spell between now and their last league title win and whilst the Italian is available having left Inter Milan in the summer, whom he led to their first league title since 2010 last campaign, this could be an opportunity worth taking by the Catalonian club.

After all, Conte re-built Juventus in his time as manager between 2011 and 2014 and effectively started their nine-year dynasty in Italian football, winning them three league titles and two Supercoppa Italianas on a limited budget that saw the Old Lady be astute with their dealings, signing the likes of Andrea Pirlo and Paul Pogba on free transfers. The 52-year-old also won Chelsea their last league title in the 2016/17 campaign following their 10th place finish under Guus Hiddink, following a turbulent start to the season under Jose Mourinho, further proving that the Juventus icon can offer instant success.

Although Conte’s and Barcelona’s football ethos don’t align, the desperation for instant success at the Nou Camp is heavy and with them already using a five at the back system, which the Italian is known for using, his arrival could potentially spark a Juventus-Esque rebuild.

Conte is priced at 6/1 to become Barcelona’s next manager after Koeman.

Ajax head coach Erik ten Hag is another candidate that has been linked with the job at Barcelona.

Ten Haag has won two league titles and two KNVB Cups in his time at the John Cruyff Arena and is known for playing attractive and expansive football, whilst promoting a plethora of highly talented youth players, giving them assurance of his patience whilst helping them to settle in the team, such as De Jong at Barca, Ryan Gravenberch and more.

Despite his two league and cup doubles with Ajax, ten Hag’s biggest achievement was perhaps leading Ajax to their first Champions League semi-final since 1997 in the 2018/19 campaign, following aggregate victories against the likes of Real Madrid and Juventus in the round of 16 and quarter-finals, which resulted in the Amsterdam club facing Tottenham Hotspur in the semi-finals of the competition, where an inspired Lucas Moura hattrick knocked them out with just seconds remaining on the clock in the second leg.

The 51-year-old would be an ideal choice at the Nou Camp as he would fit into a similar mold to Cruyff who is idolised by the Catalonian club and having shown his side's capabilities in the Eredivisie and the Champions League, ten Hag could perhaps be the man to rebuild Barcelona.

Barcelona are priced at 8/1 to appoint ten Haag as their next manager after Koeman.

Massimiliano Allegri is the second Italian to feature on this list of managers that are reportedly being lined up for the hot seat at Barcelona.

At present, Allegri manages Juventus who seem to have somewhat fallen apart since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo to Manchester United, meaning that they haven’t won any of their opening four league matches, and if things carry on, the Italian could potentially leave the Juventus Stadium for a second time.

This could make Allegri readily available to become the manager of another top European side, and with six Serie A titles to his name as a manager of the likes of AC Milan and Juventus, as well as four Coppa Italias to his name, he has a glittering CV that matches up to that which a club like Barcelona should be aiming for.

Allegri is priced at 10/1 to leave Juventus for Barcelona.

The last manager on this list is current Spain and former Barcelona manager Luis Enrique.

Enrique led Spain to the semi-finals of Euro 2020 with an unfancied squad, having been knocked out on penalties to eventual champions, Italy, showing that he has what it takes to achieve with an outsider.

The 51-year-old is a Barcelona club legend having played for the Nou Camp club between 1996 and 2004, joining from arch-rivals, Real Madrid, winning seven honours in his time as a player at the Catalonian club, before rejoining as manager in 2014, winning a treble in his first season, which was the last time that Barcelona won the Champions League. In just three years as manager of the club, Enrique lead them to nine trophies

Barcelona are priced at 16/1 to turn to Enrique as a replacement for Koeman as manager.