Ever since Xavi Hernandez announced that he would be stepping down as Barcelona head coach at the end of the season, attention has turned to who his possible successor could be. So many names have already been linked, although Sporting Director Deco is currently in no rush to finalise an appointment.
Reports suggest that a more experienced coach is wanted, someone that is able to handle the pressure of managing one of the biggest clubs in world football, and one that generates plenty of scrutiny from fans and the media alike. With this in mind, a few key candidates have emerged.
Hansi Flick looks to be the leading candidate at this moment, and he has edged slightly closer to the role in recent days. Equally, the likes of Thomas Tuchel and Jurgen Klopp have also been touted, although they are not as well placed.
Former Barcelona midfielder Emmanuel Petit has spoken exclusively to Football España to give his thoughts on who should be the successor to Xavi.
“There are some big name managers on the market at the moment. You have Flick, Mourinho, Conte, Klopp. I would say that Klopp is definitely the best solution for Barcelona, but he’s taking a sabbatical. He’ll take months to recharge – I love Klopp, he’s always honest and he gets straight to the point.”
While Petit listed several high profile and experienced managers, he actually believes that Barcelona should look to appoint a younger coach, someone that can look to build a project. He outlined two key candidates, although he (biasedly) prefers one more than the other.
“Since it won’t be Klopp, for me there are only two options. One of them is forbidden (to me), and that’s Arteta – he has to stay at Arsenal. I think his story there is no ending yet, he has so much more to prove and improve. He didn’t reach the top of this beautiful team yet, even if he wins the Premier League this season, it would be too soon for him to leave. I think he can manage to go further up with this team.
“The other one, for me, is the best solution, and that’s Xabi Alonso. His work in Germany is amazing, it’s surprised me a lot how quick he has become successful as a manager, especially when you are at a country where you don’t know much, you don’t speak the language. I think it’s remarkable what he’s been doing with Leverkusen. If I was Barcelona, I would try everything to bring him. He has a proper identity in the game; a proper vision of what he wants his players to do; he’s Spanish. I think that would be the best solution for Barcelona.”
There are multiple problems with hiring either Arteta or Alonso. Firstly, the big one is that it is highly unlikely that either would want to take charge of Barcelona from this summer. Arteta looks well settled at Arsenal, while Alonso is a devoted Madridista, so is not expected to be overly interested in a move to the Blaugrana – besides, he’s much more likely to join Liverpool if he does leave Leverkusen.
The second is that neither fits the bill of an “experienced” manager, which is the profile that Barcelona has set out. Granted, both are more qualified than Xavi was when he was appointed in 2021, but they could both still wilt under the pressure of managing a much bigger club than the one they are at now.
However, that’s not to say that either would be a bad appointment – in fact, both would probably be excellent decisions by Barcelona, but the main problem is that it doesn’t look likely to happen. For now, your Flicks and Tuchels are probably the best bets, or maybe even another manager will emerge as the summer draws closer.
This interview was conducted with Betway.
