Next Barcelona Manager Odds: Jose Mourinho fourth favourite to replace Xavi

Xavi’s Barca suffered yet another defeat last weekend as they succumbed 5-3 to Villarreal at home, with the Spaniard announcing that he’ll be leaving the club come June shortly after the game.

The likes of Mikel Arteta, Rafael Marquez and Jurgen Klopp are some of the early favourites to succeed Xavi come the summer, with the latest rundown of the top four favourites for the job found below.

Next Barcelona Manager Odds

Odds courtesy of bet365, correct at time of publishing and subject to change.

Next Barcelona Manager Odds: Early Favourites

Mikel Arteta

Mikel Arteta is currently favourite to take over the mantle at Barcelona once Xavi departs at the end of the season, with the Arsenal boss proving his worth during his time with the Gunners these past few years.

The Spaniard, who played for the Blaugrana during his career, lead Arsenal to a second place finish in the Premier League last year, finishing just behind Man City, with many saying the Gunners threw away the title given the lead they had over City in March.

Despite this, Arteta has still impressed heavily during his time in north London, leading them to an FA Cup and two Community Shield wins since taking over in December 2019, with the Spaniard also guiding them back into the Champions League for the first time since the 2016/17 season during this time.

In just a few seasons, Arteta has managed to turn a club in disarray into one of the more feared sides in world football, one that is capable of challenging on all fronts as show over the last 18 months.

Given this, it’s easy to see why Barcelona may want him, however whether Arteta is willing to leave the project at Arsenal for a club in need of a slight rebuild in Barca remains to be seen.

Next Barcelona Manager Odds: Mikel Arteta @ 3/1 with bet365

Rafael Marquez

Former Barca defender Marquez is second favourite with the bookies to take over from Xavi, something that may be slightly surprising to fans given his lack of managerial experience.

Marquez is currently in charge of the club’s B team, with the Mexican winning 44% of his matches since being appointed in 2022.

Barca have a history of appointing former players as manager, something see through their appointments of Pep Guardiola, Luis Enrique, Ronald Koeman, Joahn Cruyff and Xavi.

It’s therefore easier to see why Marquez is one of the favourites to take over in Catalonia, however it’d certainly be a huge risk given his lack of experience as a manager combined with his subpar performance for the club’s B team over the last 18 months or so.

Next Barcelona Manager Odds: Rafael Marquez @ 4/1 with bet365

Jurgen Klopp

Liverpool boss Klopp surprised the football world last week after announcing he’s leaving the club in the summer, with the Reds now on the lookout for a new boss because of this.

Following this, it’s now fair to say that, come the summer, Klopp will be the biggest managerial name without a club on the market.

The German has proven to be one of the best in the world at his job over the past 15 years, with Klopp winning numerous trophies with both Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool during that time, with his biggest achievement seeing him guide the Reds to the 2019 Champions League crown.

Klopp stated last week that his reason for leaving Liverpool was the fact that he didn’t have the energy required to carry on, something that makes us think he won’t be taking over at the Nou Camp any time soon.

Barca has a history of wearing down their managers to the point of resignation in the past, with a similar story to Xavi’s being seen with both Luis Enrique and Pep Guardiola.

They are often regarded as one of, if not the, hardest team to manage in world football from a workload standpoint, thus it’d be a surprise to see Klopp succeed Xavi following his words last week.

Next Barcelona Manager Odds: Jurgen Klopp @ 8/1 with bet365

Hansi Flick

Ex-Germany boss Hansi Flick is a slight outsider to take over at Barcelona, with the former Bayern boss managing outside of club football since joining Die Mannschaft in 2021, a job he was relieved of in September last year.

Flick’s only experience of managing a club side beyond 2005 was his stint with Bayern, a period in which he guided the Bavarian side to their second-ever treble in the 2019/20 campaign.

Bayern won all trophies that year as well as winning all six trophies available to them from January 2020 to January 2021.

He ended up winning seven trophies with Bayern, which is coincidentally the exact same amount of games he lost during his 20 months with the club.

Flick’s time with Germany didn’t exactly go to plan, with the Germans going out in the group stages of the 2022 World Cup, with Flick sacked after losing 4-1 to Japan a few months ago.

Flick would definitely be an interesting choice for Barca to go with as it’d be interesting to see whether he keeps up with an extremely high-line whilst with the Blaugrana should he take over, one that worked so well during his time at the Allianz Arena.

Next Barcelona Manager Odds: Hansi Flick @ 10/1 with bet365