Charles Jackson
Former Bayern Munich and Germany coach Hansi Flick has reportedly emerged as one of the leading candidates to succeed Xavi as Barcelona manager should the club decide to sack the former player.
Barcelona sporting director Deco and football coordinator Bojan are said to have traveled to London for a work trip this week, by ESPN, while reports out of Spain claim they will find Flick and his agent there. The final decision on Xavi’s dismissal, however, will only take place next week, when the club’s president, Joan Laporta, plans to meet with him.
Flick is one of several managers being considered for the potential role, which would be one of several high-profile jobs available in Europe. The list of candidates includes second team manager Rafa Marquez, another former Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel and former Brighton and Hove Albion manager Roberto De Zerbi. These last two are expected to be in the running for various other jobs across the continent, but are not yet seriously attached to any jobs.
Flick has been a respected coach for some time in his native Germany. He was assistant coach of the national team when they won the 2014 World Cup and was also present when they finished runner-up at Euro 2008 and successive third-place finishes at the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012. He then came to prominence during his time at Bayern, from 2019 to 2021, when he won the UEFA Champions League, two Bundesliga titles and the Club World Cup, among other awards.
He then took the job in Germany, but was a candidate for the Barcelona vacancy before taking over the national team. The team underperformed during his tenure, which included a group stage exit from the 2022 World Cup, and in September last year, Flick became the first coach to be sacked from his role. He has been unemployed ever since.
Managerial twists at Barcelona
The last few months have been turbulent at Barcelona when it comes to their managerial situation. After a series of poor results, Xavi announced in January that he would step down at the end of the season, but the club never seriously considered other managers and instead tried to convince him to stay. The plan ended up working, leading Xavi to reverse his decision in April after a meeting with Laporta.
Things changed last week, after a seemingly innocuous incident at a press conference, when Xavi told the media that it would be difficult to compete with Real Madrid next season, given the club’s different economic situations. While Real Madrid are stable enough to pay the salaries of many of the world’s best players and hope to sign Kylian Mbappe, Barcelona have struggled to deal with La Liga’s financial regulations in recent years.
“We will try to compete,” said Xavi last week, by ESPN. “The situation is financially difficult. It has nothing to do with what happened 25 years ago, when the coach arrived and said: ‘I like this player, this one and this one’. It doesn’t work like that anymore. Fans need to understand the situation. As a coach, I understand what is happening and that is how we will manage things. At the moment, we are not in the same conditions as other clubs. to improve [financial] fair play, that is the reality. Fans should know. But that doesn’t mean we won’t try to achieve our goals.”
Laporta was reportedly upset by Xavi’s “realistic” point of view and began thinking about sacking the coach, by Guillem Balague. ESPN reports that Xavi and his team have been left in the dark about their job security since last week’s events, although they predict they will not be in charge next season.
If Barcelona decide to fire Xavi, the question arises whether or not he will ask for compensation for the last year of his contract. This could worsen the club’s financial situation, which was reportedly high on the list of priorities when they decided to convince him to stay earlier this year.
