Barcelona's top managerial target emerges as Liverpool and Bayern eye new bosses
Barcelona's sporting director Deco wants to bring former boss Luis Enrique back as Xavi's replacement this summer.
Club legend Xavi is leaving his post as manager when the season ends, leaving those at the Nou Camp to look elsewhere for their next boss. Deco has identified the current PSG boss as his ideal candidate, according to Cadena SER, but the Spaniard is currently under contract in Paris.
The French club are unlikely to let Enrique go, especially as they embark on a new era without Kylian Mbappe from next season. It means that Deco may have to look elsewhere despite his desire to bring the treble win back to Catalunya. In 2015 Enrique helped lead the team - which included Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez - to the pinnacle of Europe.
He spent three years at the Nou Camp, winning two La Liga titles and several domestic cups, but appears more than committed to the project at the Parc des Princes. Barcelona have been linked with several other managerial candidates, Thomas Tuchel among them.
Bayern Munich and Liverpool are also seeking new managers with the three clubs likely to impact on each other. Tuchel will leave the German giants at the end of the season and the Bavarians, like Liverpool, have identified Xabi Alonso as their prime target.
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Hansi Flick, another former Bayern boss, is a name also being considered by Barcelona. Roberto De Zerbi has performed impressively at Brighton but his release clause has put off the Spanish side, which could free Liverpool to make a move as they eye Jurgen Klopp's successor.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta claims, despite questions over their financial situation, that they can afford to appoint a major name. He said: “If we achieve the budget, in the summer we will be at a 1:1 ratio in the ‘fair play’, at which point we will be able to sign a coach of certain notoriety.
Luis Enrique won the Champions League as Barcelona manager ((Photo by Paul Gilham/Getty Images))"Deco is working, the coach will have to adapt to the sports idea. The structure of grassroots football is working very well, with Alexanco at the helm.
"We already have five or six players in first team dynamics, plus those who will arrive. We have a football director, who is Deco, and the coach who will come knows that at Barca we have a genuine way of playing, which is what the players like, what Culers, but obviously the coach has to have his personality.”
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