The announcement of Xavi's departure caught Barcelona off guard.
President Juan Laporte did say that he respected the coach's decision, but also tried to pressure him to stay, perhaps knowing that he would have difficulty finding a suitable replacement, despite talk of candidates such as Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta.
Now it turns out Laporte is going in a different direction.
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According to reports in the Spanish media, the president of Barcelona wants to bring back to the lines the one who led the club to win the Champions League in 2006, 61-year-old Frank Rijkaard, who coached the team between 2003 and 2008.
The Dutchman even won two Spanish championships with Barca.
However, this seems to be a strange decision by Laporte.
Although Rijkaard is highly regarded in Catalonia, even 16 years after he left the club, the last time he coached was in 2013, when he was on the lines of the Saudi Arabian national team.
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Is a coach who has been out of the business for over a decade, and whose last time he properly coached a team in the league was in 2010, the solution?
Not sure, even if under him Leo Messi got his first chance to play in Barcelona's senior team.
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