Izuchukwu OkosiBarcelona manager Xavi Hernandez shockingly announced on Saturday evening about his imminent departure from the club at the end of the season following a string of poor results.
Xavi revealed this after Barcelona lost 5-3 at home to Villarreal, a result which left the club 10 points off La Liga leaders and rivals Real Madrid.
There will be hordes of potential candidates for the club’s managerial position in the coming weeks.
Barca lost an eight-goal thriller as Villarreal struck twice deep into stoppage time.
Xavi will be the second high profile manager under one week to announce his departure after Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp told the media that he has decided to call time on his Merseyside stint.
Xavi said: “I will leave Barcelona in June. We have reached a point of no return. It’s time for change. As a Culé, I think that it’s time to leave.
“I spoke with the board and the club today. I will leave on the 30th of June”.
Defeat leaves defending champions Barcelona third in the La Liga title race, 10 points behind leaders Real Madrid and eight points off Girona in second.
The former Barcelona and Spain midfielder was appointed Barca manager in November 2021 after quitting Qatari side Al Sadd.
He guided them to the Spanish title in his first full season in charge in 2022-23.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
