Barcelona have known they will need a new manager for the past six weeks now, and Sporting Director Deco has been assessing and investigating their options to replace Xavi Hernandez. The decision-making process is in the final stages, as Barcelona seek to begin a new era.
President Joan Laporta and Deco are set to make the decision together, and Sport say that from within the club, there’s a feeling it will be one of the German coaches – Julian Nagelsmann, Hansi Flick or Thomas Tuchel – but that at this point it is speculation. Until the Blaugrana meet face to face with their candidates, there will be no certainty on the matter.
🚨 JUST IN: Deco has met with John Murtough of Manchester United. They've taken the opportunity to negotiate with each other. Several names were put on the table. Mason Greenwood could be one of them. @sport 🏴 pic.twitter.com/fDL8drkebF
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) March 11, 2024
Those meetings are due to begin shortly though. The Catalan daily say that Barcelona want to take a decision on the new manager during the next international break, which starts in just over a week’s time. With La Liga resuming in the final two days of March, it appears Deco will look to line-up the new man up by the end of the month.
⚠️ Excl. News #Nagelsmann: He wants to make a future decision before the EUROs! Possibly in April or May …
➡️ Ideally he wants to announce a new club before the tournament!
Nagelsmann wants to make a conscious decision early to have clarity. During the tournament and just… pic.twitter.com/tetBSOis4l
— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) March 11, 2024
This should give the new man in charge ample time to begin preparing and evaluating their options, ahead of the coming season, although the likes of Tuchel or Roberto de Zerbi are still in club jobs. Equally, one of the problems for Barcelona is they can give little in the way of guarantees on their squad next season amid the necessity to sell, which will no doubt play a big role in negotiations.
