Gerard Pique names Premier League manager as ideal Xavi Hernandez replacement at Barcelona

Gerard Pique has insisted that Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta would be a the perfect replacement for Xavi Hernandez at Barcelona.

Xavi announced earlier this year that he would leave Barca at the end of the season following a rather disappointing 2023/24 in which the club failed to even come close to defending their La Liga title. As expected, since that news broke, attentions have turned to who would take charge of the club for the 2024/25 campaign.

Hansi Flick and Roberto De Zerbi have been linked with taking over in Catalunya, with the former widely considered the frontrunner for the post.

Former Barcelona defender Pique, however, believes that current Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta would be the best appointnment the club could make, telling The Times, Pique said: “To manage Barca you need to be a specific type of coach and understand the way Barca play, so the options are much less.

“The obvious ones are [Pep] Guardiola, because he had his past here, and he is the best coach right now, and [Mikel] Arteta. He would be a good one also. He understands Barcelona and played for Barca in the past.”

Arteta has denied any speculation that he is ready to leave Arsenal in order to join Barcelona, and the London club are ready to offer him a new contract.

The manager has done a wonderful job in recent years, making Arsenal genuine title contenders and seeing them through to the UEFA Champuons Leaguw quarter-finals for the first time in 14 years this season.