Hansi Flick will be the next coach of FC Barcelona. The Blaugrana got the yes from the former Bayern Munich coach, after a whirlwind trip on Wednesday by sporting director Deco and Sports Commission member Bojan Krkic to London. At this summit, apart from Flick, there was also his agent, Pini Zahivi. Despite the denials of all the parties involved, the truth is that this meeting finally took place, which also ended satisfactorily, certifying an agreement in principle with Flick, which ‘El Chiringuito’ advanced and AS was able to confirm, for him to be coach of FC Barcelona for the next two seasons.
Obviously, the club must now resolve the contract situation of Xavi Hernandez and the rest of his staff. No one from Barça has yet officially communicated anything to the coach – in AS we already reported that Laporta’s former brother-in-law, Alejandro Echevarría, had dropped the possibility of seeking an agreed exit a few days ago. This officiality will not be made until after the match against Sevilla on Sunday. A meeting with the Sports Commission is scheduled between Monday or Tuesday where the reasons for his dismissal will be explained, with Deco as master of ceremonies, since part of the decision is due to the report prepared by the sporting director. This decision will have to be endorsed by the Board of Directors on Thursday, although in principle no surprise is expected: most of the directors already advocated his departure, before it was ratified by Laporta in the famous ‘sushi pact’.
The ‘crux’ of the matter is whether there will be an economic settlement on compensation. From the coach’s entourage, it is assured that the coach would be willing to give up a good part of the year that he has left, as long as the club commits to fulfilling the rest of his assistants. In any case, it should be remembered that Xavi already made it very clear when he announced his deferred resignation at the end of January, that he was willing to give up the entire year.
There is no doubt that Xavi’s situation at the moment is very delicate. Without having any official news from the club, with a deafening outside noise, with the squad trying to isolate itself from the environment in an unsuccessful way and with the name of Hansi Flick already in all the pools, Xavi has to plan professionally for Sunday’s match against Sevilla, and what is almost worse, he faces two more press conferences.
It should be remembered that Flick has been in the Blaugrana orbit for some time now. Since Xavi announced his dismissal on a deferred basis, the German coach has positioned himself among Laporta’s favourites. The German was also helped by the fact that he had Zahivi, a man of the president’s utmost confidence, as his agent. Flick wanted to show his interest in signing for Barcelona from the first minute, starting to study Spanish and assimilating all the football concepts of Barcelona. In fact, he even travelled to Brighton to see De Zerbi’s team, as he is one of the greatest exponents of positional play and publicly praised by Pep Guardiola. His refusal in recent days to manage Chelsea, following the announcement of Mauricio Pochettino’s departure, was yet another symptom of his unalterable desire to sit on the Barcelona bench.
Laporta has always been a proponent of the German way. As soon as he was proclaimed president, he tried unsuccessfully to sign a coach from the German school. His favourites were Julian Nagelsmann and Thomas Tuchel. In the end, neither of them could come, having to stay with Ronald Koeman, whom he fulminated three months into the season.
