Spanish top club Barça parts ways with coach Xavi – Hansi Flick to take over from next season
Only details are said to stand in the way of FC Barcelona hiring Hansi Flick as coach.
© Peter Schatz / Action Press
Is everything happening very quickly now? According to media reports, Hansi Flick has been confirmed as the new coach of FC Barcelona. And it’s fitting that the separation from Xavi has been completed.
In January, Xavi announced that he only wanted to finish this season. In April, he then declared that he wanted to stay on as coach of FC Barcelona. And now it turns out that Hansi Flick will be coaching the Catalans instead of him. That is at least what the newspaper “Mundo Deportivo” is reporting. The broadcaster Sky is also reporting this. The personnel change is expected to be officially announced after the weekend.
FC Barcelona parts ways with Xavi
According to the Spanish newspaper, a telephone conversation took place two days ago between the 59-year-old German and Barça’s sporting director Deco. Details such as the contract term have yet to be clarified. A one-year contract with an option for an extension is being discussed.
It is certain that the top club will part ways with current coach Xavi after this season. Club president Joan Laporta has informed the 44-year-old that he will no longer be head coach in 2024/25, the Catalans said on their website. In the coming days, Barcelona will provide information about the new structure of the professional team.
Hansi Flick has been discussed as successor for some time
Xavi’s public statements about the club’s financial situation and the lack of international competitiveness of his squad are said to have massively angered the Barça management. He had actually already announced his resignation after the end of this season in January. Even at that time, Flick was being considered as a possible successor.
In April, the first turnaround came when Xavi, President Laporta and sporting director Deco agreed to continue working together until at least 2025. But now it’s over.
One thing that speaks in Flick’s favor as a potential successor is that his agent Pini Zahavi has a good relationship with Laporta. He also has a good reputation in Spain because, as coach of Bayern Munich, he beat FC Barcelona 8-2 in the quarterfinals on the way to winning the Champions League in 2020.
nik DPA
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