Newcastle United are very happy with Eddie Howe but may have missed out on a top manager having made a move for Xavi before he joined Barcelona.
Howe has completely changed Newcastle with the dreary Steve Bruce era almost forgotten already.
Howe has Newcastle well-drilled already, showing an effective pressing system that certainly wasn’t evident under Bruce.
Sure, January signings have helped but Howe is the real driving force in this Newcastle setup right now and long may that continue.
Howe wasn’t the only manager Newcastle looked at though, as they also eyed up a shock move for Xavi.
Reports in October suggested that Newcastle had shown a strong interest in Xavi, who was managing in Qatar with Al-Sadd at the time.
Xavi was happy in Qatar though and seemingly only wanted to leave if it was Barcelona who came calling – and that’s exactly what happened.
The Spaniard was headhunted by Barcelona to replace Ronald Koeman, handing him a dream return to the Camp Nou having spent 31 years there from boy to man.
With Barca in financial ruin, this seemed like a gamble from Xavi but it now looks to be paying dividends.
Xavi masterminded Barcelona’s 4-0 thrashing of bitter rivals Real Madrid on Sunday, showing Newcastle what they’re missing.
That’s now 15 wins, seven draws and four defeats in 26 games for Barcelona with Xavi injecting some life back into what appeared to be a club in decline.
Gary Lineker has now heaped praise on Xavi, taking to Twitter to suggest that it looks like the 42-year-old will become a truly elite coach.
That’s a bold claim so early into Xavi’s managerial career, but the signs do look very encouraging for him and for Barcelona.
Newcastle may have missed their chance at landing Xavi, but they can only hope that Howe brings them memorable nights like Xavi did for Barcelona last night.
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