Barcelona are believed to be readying an assault on Manchester City’s management team of Manuel Pellegrini, Txiri Begiristain and Ferran Soriano.
The Catalan giants are looking to restructure their boardroom following the exits of Andoni Zubizarreta and Carles Puyol last week, coupled with mounting speculation over the future of Coach Luis Enrique and the announcement of the club’s presidential elections being brought forward.
Consequently, the Daily Mirror believe their search for new directors has led them to the Premier League champions, where two of their former executives currently reside.
Begiristain, a key component in Johan Cruyff’s Dream Team during the early 1990s, was Barca’s director of football between 2003 and 2010, helping the team to 12 titles, before following Laporta out of Camp Nou in the summer of 2010.
Soriano, meanwhile, assumed the role of Vice-President between 2003 and 2008, most notably boosting the club’s revenue from €123m to €308m and turning a €73m loss into an €88m profit.
The newspaper adds that Pellegrini will also be targeted if La Blaugrana prosper in their pursuit of both Begiristain and Soriano, despite the Chilean’s past affiliation with Real Madrid.
Both teams are set to do battle in the Champions League last 16, with the first leg being played at the Etihad Stadium on February 24.
