The Dutch manager would face a difficult task if he joins the Catalan giants as the Argentinian star appear to be on the verge of leaving.

Ronald Koeman is tipped to take over at Barcelona with the official announcement set to arrive in the coming days.

It could be a big mountain to climb for the Dutchman as one of his first tasks would be to ensure 'unhappy'Leo Messi stays at the club beyond the 2020-2021 campaign.

The 33-year-old has grown seemingly tired of loading the whole Blaugrana team on his shoulders.

Here are 4 different formations Koeman could possibly use to help Barca's ageing legend.

The Totti role

• Messi could possibly return to the false 9 role but with some reasonable changes.

• The Argentinian would wait for the ball in the central circle to send one of the wingers through with lobbed pass or through ball, just like evergreen Francesco Totti did at Roma .

Central midfielder

• Leo could turn into Andres Iniesta as he has all the qualities Iniesta had: excellent dribbling, passing, vision and ball control.

• Meanwhile, Frenkie de Jong and Miralem Pjanic would gladly agree to cover for the Argentinian defensively.

The Pirlo role

• The 33-year-old might be even played in the place of a defensive midfielder, just like Juventus' brand new head coach Andrea Pirlo did as the Bianconeri.

• Once again, Miralem Pjanic and Frenkie de Jong appear to be the perfect candidates to start alongside Leo and focus on the defence more.

No.10

• Sure, Messi would thrive the most with a centre-forward ahead of him, two wingers to his sides and two midfielders behind him.

• This would completely tie off his hands and he would be able to run less and forget about defending.

Which one would you prefer? Tell us in the comments