Barcelona continues its search into finding a new manager.
According to Roger Torello of Mundo Deportivo, Hansi Flick recently met with Barcelona President Joan Laporta, an encounter that took place in the past few days in Barcelona, with the German strategist accompanied by his agent, as reported by Footmercato this Sunday. However, Flick’s camp vehemently denied to Mundo Deportivo that the coach had such a meeting with Laporta in Barcelona. Footmercato had previously reported that Flick had met with President Laporta in Barcelona in recent days, accompanied by his agent, although they did not mention it, Flick’s agent is Pini Zahavi, who has a strong relationship with the Barcelona leader and played a crucial role in the signing of striker Robert Lewandowski by the club in the summer of 2022.
Barça’s sporting director, Anderson Luis de Souza ‘Deco,’ recently confirmed that the options for the club’s bench next season are still open, but the constraints are well-known. “There aren’t many top-level coaches out there. Most are under contract, there aren’t many available. Barcelona has a style that everyone knows. But there’s no portrait of the ideal coach. Nationality doesn’t matter, what matters is quality, ambition,” he outlined.
Regardless of where and when, it’s true that Flick meets many of the requirements outlined by Deco, Barça’s sporting director, in his recent statements to Catalunya Ràdio about taking charge of the Barcelona bench: availability as he is out of contract and ‘top-level’ because he has already won a sextuple with Bayern. As Mundo Deportivo reported, the so-called ‘German route’ has always been one of the possibilities considered by the club for the first-team bench for next season since Xavi Hernández announced his decision to step down from the role starting in June.
Other names are floating between desire, dream, and real possibility. Among them, alongside Flick, are more German coaches like Thomas Tuchel, who is leaving Bayern at the end of the season, and Julian Nagelsmann, the current German national coach, currently under contract until the end of the Euro. Luis Enrique Martínez, Roberto De Zerbi, and Mikel Arteta are also mentioned. Other sources claimed that Italian Massimiliano Allegri, the current Juventus coach, was offered to Barcelona in February for next season, although the Juventus coach would not be the preferred profile or a priority at the club despite his acknowledged quality.
