Ronald Koeman already facing Barcelona AXE with presidential candidate Victor Font wanting Xavi

Barcelona presidential candidate Victor Font has sensationally claimed he will sack Ronald Koeman and replace him with club legend Xavi if he is elected next year.

Koeman is set to be announced as the club’s new manager on Wednesday after Quique Setien was sacked in the aftermath of Barcelona’s humiliating Champions League defeat by Bayern Munich.

Current president Josep Maria Bartomeu is under increasing pressure at the top of the club with elections planned for the first match day from March 15 next year after they were brought forward. 

Ronald Koeman is facing the sack at Barcelona if presidential candidate Victor Font is elected

Font has vowed to replace Koeman with Xavi, despite how well the Dutchman performs

Font is in the running to oust Bartomeu as president, who has been in the role since 2014, and has not hidden his desire to appoint Xavi as manager.

Speaking on Spanish radio programme El Larguero on Tuesday night, Font announced Koeman will be fired and replaced by Xavi if he is elected, regardless of how the former Everton and Southampton manager does. 

Xavi is currently cutting his teeth in his first managerial role with Qatar’s Al-Sadd. 

The club’s former midfielder ruled himself out of coaching the club in the near term, citing institutional problems as a reason to bide his time and remain in his current role. 

Xavi rejected the offer to coach his former club back in January when they sacked Ernesto Valverde, alluding to some of the problems Bartomeu has faced, including a scandal involving the hiring of a social media monitoring firm and fallout from a pay-cut the club introduced in April. 

‘There’s a lot of external noise around the club, a lot of issues off the pitch and I don’t think now is the right time,’ Xavi told Icon magazine earlier this month.

‘In January I told them it wasn’t the right time and they haven’t contacted me since.

‘I’m delighted to continue to gain experience and challenge myself and of course it’ll be a privilege for me to one day coach Barca.’  

Font is in the running to oust Josep Maria Bartomeu as president, with elections now in March

Alongside Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets, Xavi was integral to the midfield of Pep Guardiola’s sublime Barcelona team.

He won eight LaLiga and four Champions League titles in total as a player at the Nou Camp, as well as the World Cup and European Championships with Spain.

Koeman, meanwhile, was pictured at Barcelona’s El Prat Airport on Tuesday afternoon as he prepares to be confirmed as the club’s new manager. 

The 57-year-old, who played for the Spanish giants between 1989 and 1995 will leave his position as manager of the Dutch national team. 

He faces a significant rebuilding job at the Nou Camp with the club currently in crisis after their 8-2 defeat by Bayern in Lisbon.

Koeman will also have to navigate a ruthless clear out of the playing squad with Bartomeu announcing on Tuesday that only eight players were safe from the axe.

They include Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann, Frenkie de Jong and Ansu Fati but wholesale changes are required to bring the club back to the summit of Spanish and European football.

Technical secretary Eric Abidal has also lost his job after consistently poor recruitment in the transfer market.