Koeman tipped for Newcastle job by ex-England international Michael Ball

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The dust hasn’t even settled on the departure of Ronald Koeman from Barcelona, but that hasn’t stopped former England international Michael Ball suggesting the Dutchman for the Newcastle job.

Koeman’s tenure at Barcelona was brought to an abrupt end last night after a Radamel Falcao goal gave Rayo Vallecano a 1-0 win, which left the Spanish giants ninth in La Liga.

With a wealth of top class managers now inevitably going to be linked with the Nou Camp role, Koeman now finds himself at a crossroads.

Just like Barcelona, Newcastle are also looking for a new manager.

Some of the names linked include likes of Paulo Fonseca, Lucien Favre and Erik ten Hag, but none of them have the previous Premier League experience that Koeman does.

Whilst the former Everton manager may want a break following a taxing period in Catalonia, it hasn’t stopped ex-Toffees player Ball throwing Koeman’s name amongst the Newcastle candidates.

Should Newcastle consider Koeman?

Koeman has a glittering managerial CV and his role at Barcelona was his 11th job. The 58-year-old has managed some of the biggest clubs in Europe and had a two-and-a-half year spell managing Netherlands before taking the Barcelona position.

Alongside spells at Valencia, Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, Benfica and Feyenoord, Koeman has 56 wins from 123 Premier League games.

In his solitary full season at Goodison Park, Koeman led Everton to a seventh place finish in the Premier League. In his two seasons at Southampton, the Saints finished seventh and sixth.

Koeman will be reeling from how things have ended in Barcelona, but at Newcastle, it would very much be a case of chalk and cheese when comparing the two sides financially.

Similar to the Barcelona rebuild, Newcastle is going to be a long-term project. But this time around, Koeman would have the financial resources to build his own team.

With Graeme Jones set for his second game as interim boss in Saturday’s clash against Chelsea, Koeman’s sudden availability could force the Newcastle owners into a rethink ahead of naming a new manager ready for the Brighton game.