People familiar with the matter told Financial Times that Barclays is planning to appoint Jes Staley, the former head of investment banking at J.P. Morgan & Chase Co., to be their next CEO.
Staley's appointment, which is awaiting approval from regulators, is set to be announced in the next two weeks.
The Financial Times added that shares of Barclays fell 1.5 percent in early trading in London.
James Chappell, an analyst at Berenberg, told the Financial Times that the appointment of Staley cleared one uncertainty but also bought more.
"Overall, while this removes one uncertainty regarding the future CEO we see it raising more uncertainties on the outlook which are likely to weigh on the shares," he said. "Sadly, having hoped Barclays might emerge as a long-term winner in the sector, we fear it is returning to its bad old ways."
Analysts are concerned that the hiring of Staley would mean Barclays would go back towards investment banking, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Analysts are concerned that Barclays would require more capital if it wants to focus on investment banking again.
The Wall Street Journal also reported that European banks have lagged behind U.S. banks in terms of adapting to the new landscape of investment banking.
U.K. and Europe banks were slower to react in restructuring and adapt to global banking rule changes during the financial crisis.
The Wall Street Journal adds this issue has set off a debate on whether banks like Barclays should be supported by policy makers to maintain large investment banks that can compete with their U.S. counterparts.
Barclays and other U.K. banks were also weighed down by multi-billion pound bills over consumer payment protection insurance.
Chirantan Barua, a banks analyst at Bernstein, told the Financial Times that Staley's appointment won't be liked by the market.
"This makes a capital call even more likely," he said. "The Street will also not like the implied move back to investment banking (the shareholder base will turn) though Jes if appointed, is likely to play it down."
Barclays, commenting on the speculation of Staley's appointment, said in a press release that the process of appointing a new CEO has not yet concluded.
The bank said that they will be providing further updates once the process is complete.
