About a week and a half ago, after Barcelona's loss to Villarreal (5:3), the coach of the Catalans and former player Xavi announced that he would leave the team at the end of the season, both because of the results and because of the price he claims he is paying from the pressure to coach his youth team.
Since then, the rumor mill surrounding his replacement has been at its peak, but now according to a report in "German Bild", the one who is establishing himself as the leading candidate to reach Catalonia is Hanzi Flick.
According to the report, a move to Camp Nou is very beckoning to Flick, who is already working on his language skills and learning Spanish.
"Barcelona indicated to him that he is on their short list. He would like to coach Barcelona, he was even on holiday in Spain recently. In addition, he believes in the squad, he is learning Spanish, which is another sign that this would be a challenge he would like to accept," said journalist Christian Falk .
It should be remembered that Flick was already very close to becoming Barcelona's coach back in 2021 and held a video call with Juan Laporte to discuss the matter, but ultimately rejected the Catalan team's offer.
As a result, Xavi was the man chosen to replace the sacked Ronald Koeman.
Now Flick, the coach who inflicted the historic defeat of Barcelona 8:2 in the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 2020, is closer than ever to Camp Nou.
flick
Will he coach Barca?, Photo: Getty Images
Former player Rafa Marquez, who is currently coaching Barcelona B, was one of the other names that were discussed as possible replacements for Xavi, but reports say that Barca leaders think that as of now it is still too early for him to receive the promotion.
Thiago Motta, who is successfully coaching Bologna this season, is another option, while the arrival of Jurgen Klopp, who has announced that he will leave Liverpool, given Barcelona's financial situation, does not seem likely.
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Meanwhile, in the Spanish "Sport" it was announced that Robert Lewandowski, whom Flick knows very well, wants to continue another season in Barcelona, despite his and his teammates' mediocre season.
The Pole has scored 14 goals and provided six more assists in 31 games this season, but he is far from his form in the Bayern Munich uniform and even from the form he showed last season, in which he helped Barcelona win the championship.
If Lava decides to continue he will continue to get the credit of being the starting striker and will try to mentor Vitor Roca, who started to get into things after arriving in the winter transfer window.
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