Barcelona, for the most part, would have believed that their priority heading into the summer transfer window would be to sign a long-term replacement for Sergio Busquets in the pivot position, get a long-term left-winger, and also plug depth holes in midfield and defence.
However, Xavi’s decision to leave the club at the end of the season has come as a bit of a surprise to everyone. The Barcelona board were not aware of his decision, and were, in fact, counting on him for next season, as per Deco.
With that in mind, the search for a new manager has already started at Barcelona. The club is looking for someone who can take over the project from Xavi, and serve for a few years.
The names of Hansi Flick, Julian Nagelsmann, Thomas Tuchel, Imanol Alguacil, Michel, Roberto de Zerbi, and several others have come up on the rumour radar, but no moves have been made so far.
Amidst all of these top-class experienced managers, AS have also reported that Johann Cruyff’s son Jordi Cruyff, also dreams of coaching Barcelona one day.
Cruyff has served as the manager of a few teams, albeit very disappointingly, starting with Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel. He also took over Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic and then Shenzhen in China. He is hoping to return to coaching a team soon, though.
The Dutchman was in charge of Barcelona as an advisor and director last season, but left at the end of the campaign after Mateu Alemany decided to leave his position as well. He was not particularly in favour of Deco’s appointment, either.
Since then, Cruyff has received several offers in bureaucratic positions since then. Tottenham Hotspur reportedly contacted him as a sporting director, but it seems his heart is set on returning to coaching.
Even Saudi Arabian teams tempted him with interesting offers, all of which were eventually turned down.
