FC Barcelona will be without a coach from the summer. Xavi announced his retirement at the end of the season. The club is now looking for a successor.
The president of FC Barcelona, Joan Laporta, has not yet had any contact with the former national coach Hansi Flick during the complicated search for a successor to the outgoing coach Xavi. “That’s up to Deco (sports director) to decide. I haven’t spoken to any coach. Of course there aren’t too many options,” Laporta said in an interview with Catalan radio station RAC1.
And further: “It has to be a coach with a strong background and there are certain conditions that the new coach has to accept, which are non-negotiable and which we want to maintain, such as our youth structure.”
“This is an advantage”
Laporta is said to hold Flick in high esteem. In addition to the coach, the names of Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta, Jürgen Klopp, Imanol Alguacil and Julian Nagelsmann were also mentioned.
Laporta now brought a new name into conversation with Rafael Márquez. The Mexican trains the Catalans’ second team. “Márquez is not excluded, he learned his job here and knows the players perfectly. That’s an advantage,” said Laporta.
When asked about the former successful coach Pep Guardiola, who still has a contract with Manchester City until 2025, the president said: “He respects the contracts. I talk to him often and he knows what the club thinks about him.”
Club legend Xavi Hernández recently announced that he would be leaving his position on June 30th. The former midfield star returned to Barcelona as a coach in November 2021, having previously coached Al-Sadd in Qatar.
He won the championship and the Supercup with the Catalans last year, but the current season is disappointing, especially in the league. In the Primera División, the team led by national team captain İlkay Gündoğan is already ten points behind arch-rivals Real Madrid.