Hansi Flick, Thomas Tuchel or Rafa Marquez? Evaluating who could replace Xavi as Barcelona manager

With Xavi announcing last month that he’ll leave the club at the end of the season the Catalan media has put forward plenty of potential candidates to succeed the Barcelona legend. Some are fairly realistic, others are downright outlandish.

Let’s have a look to see who the next manager could be:

The Current Favorite

Hansi Flick

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The former sextuple-winning manager with Bayern has been arguably the strongest link in the media, with reports that Joan Laporta in particular fancies him and that Flick himself would relish the opportunity of managing the Catalan giants. His fast-paced attacking football would prove popular among the Barcelona faithful, even if Culers’ memories of the Heidelberg-born manager are marred by the infamous 8-2 loss in August 2020. However, there will be concerns his failed Germany stint make him unsuitable for the managerial position, with the national team failing to qualify for the knockout rounds of the World Cup. One to look out for.

Out of Reach?

Roberto De Zerbi

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Another one admired for his attacking football, the Italian manager already has experience managing a Barcelona player in Ansu Fati, on loan at Brighton for the season. Having secured European football for the first time in the club’s history, the Seagulls are enjoying a similarly impressive season this time round, being only one point off a European spot and topping a tough Europa League group including Ajax and Marseille. The main barrier between him and the Blaugrana seems to be his huge €20 million release clause, making him nearly impossible for Barcelona.

The Emergency Option?

Rafa Marquéz

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The former Barcelona and Mexican defender and current manager of the reserve team, Marquez would be a low-cost option who is familiar with the club. After narrowly missing out on promotion last season, losing in the playoffs to none other than Real Madrid’s subsidiary, Castilla, the team are in and around the play-offs spots this season too. Already rumoured to take over on an interim basis if Xavi walks before the end of the season, a full-time position could be on the cards in the summer. However, he does not seem to be either Laporta’s or Deco’s priority, instead being an emergency option. If Barcelona struggle with finances in the summer though, he may well emerge as the favourite.

The Outsider

Sérgio Conceição

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The Porto manager has already won plaudits from the Catalan press this season, after two impressive performances by his team in the Champions League group stage against Barcelona, narrowly losing by one goal on both occasions. His club are currently third in the league in Portugal, after losing by two points last season to Sporting Lisbon. Having been at the club since 2017, rumours suggest that this will be his last season at the Portuguese side and will walk for free at the end of the season. Former Porto midfielder and current Barcelona sporting director Deco is rumoured to be fond of him (but has seemingly ruled out a Portuguese coach recently), but Joan Laporta is apparently less keen, and his option has diminished in recent weeks.

And the rest

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Jürgen Klopp has been linked with the soon-to-be vacant managerial position ever since he announced he would be leaving Liverpool at the end of the season, one day before Xavi himself announced the same, but he seems to be intent on taking a sabbatical from management and so will almost certainly not be coming to the Spotify Camp Nou this summer.

Spanish La Liga managers such as Imanol Alguacil of Real Sociedad and Michel of Girona have also been the subject of speculation, but have played down the transfer talk and look set at staying at their respective clubs.

Other names such as Xabi Alonso, Mikel Arteta, Julian Nagelsmann and more recently Thomas Tuchel have been linked, but they seem outsider options as things stand.

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