Barcelona President Joan Laporta has ultimately pulled rank on a number of occasions during his time at the helm of the Blaugrana, and it would be a surprise if he did not appoint a new manager that he was fully on board with this summer. The list of candidates continues to centre around four or five names, but Laporta’s favourite option remains the same.
At least that’s according to Sport, who say that he is the driving force behind ‘the German route’, which has seen a number of German coaches linked to the job, including Hansi Flick, Thomas Tuchel and Julian Nagelsmann, while Roberto de Zerbi was recommended to him by Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola. Meanwhile Sporting Director Deco is keen on bringing Luis Enrique back to the club, although that remains difficult.
The Catalan daily maintain that with Jurgen Klopp off the market, Laporta’s favourite has ‘always been’ Nagelsmann. His position is somewhat complicated by the fact he will not be available until mid-July if Germany go far in the Euros this summer. His contract is up after the tournament, meaning if they could get an agreement signed prior to the tournament, then he would not cost anything.
Nagelsmann burst onto the management scene while he was still in his twenties with TSG Hoffenheim, and performed prodigiously there and at RB Leipzig, but things went South when he took over at Bayern Munich. While they did win the title during his only full season there, he was hooked with just two months to go in the season in favour of Tuchel, amid regular reports of fallings out with players.
Image via LaPresse via ZUMA Press
