Barcelona president has asked for more reports on Premier League manager with €10 million exit clause

With Barcelona stepping up their pursuit for a new manager to take over from Xavi Hernandez at the end of the season, quite a few names appear to be under consideration.

As has been established already, Hansi Flick seems to be one of the strongest contenders while other names like Thomas Tuchel and Jurgen Klopp are also being looked at, with Joan Laporta leaning towards a German manager.

But, when it comes to the non-German route, Brighton & Hove Albion manager Roberto De Zerbi is seen as the leading candidate.

Joan Laporta wants more reports on De Zerbi

Now, Toni Juanmarti of SPORT is reporting that Barcelona president Laporta has asked for more reports on De Zerbi as the Italian’s candidature grows in strength within the club.

The Barça president believes that the Italian tactician represents a modern, new type of coach and the style of play employed by him at Brighton has caught everyone’s attention.

But Laporta has asked for more information from people around him about the coach. Questions such as what he is like as a person, how he deals with the players, what his entourage is like are something the president wants answers to.

It must be remembered that De Zerbi’s agents, the same as Ronald Araujo’s were in Barcelona recently and met with Deco as well.

Laporta has shown a concrete interest in De Zerbi and most of the inputs he has received on the 44-year-old Brighton boss have been positive. As such, the option of him replacing Xavi is very plausible, despite the existence of a €10 million exit clause in his contract at Brighton.

For now, De Zerbi is not a nailed-on choice but one among the many options being looked at. But Laporta has taken an interest in the 44-year-old and has asked for more information as he and Deco continue their search for Xavi’s replacement.