Barcelona are close to announcing Hansi Flick as the next manager of the club. The team have sacked their legendary player Xavi Hernandez and will soon make Flick’s appointment official. The former midfielder failed to deliver a trophy with the Spanish giants this season, but that was not the only reason behind the team parting ways with him.
He joined the club in 2021 and since then has helped Barca get to one La Liga and Spanish Super Cup. In the middle of the 2023-24 season, Xavi announced that he was going to leave the club at the end of the campaign. However, after meetings with the club president and other executives, he decided to rescind his decision.
Towards the end of the season, tensions once again began growing between Xavi and the Barca board over some internal matters. The club has since been in contact with Flick to hand over the reins of the team to him. The 59-year-old’s last job was as the manager of the German national team. He did not do anything meaningful with them, but Flick’s work with Bayern Munich is what has helped him become one of the top coaches across Europe.
Is Hansi Flick the right man for the Barcelona job?
Hansi Flick is one of the most renowned coaches in German football. He certainly did a great job with Bayern Munich, but prior to that Flick had also coached TSG Hoffenheim. His work at the lower leagues helped him get an assistant managerial job with the German national team. Working under Joachim Low, Flick was becoming a master tactician. He was part of the coaching staff that led the country to their fourth World Cup in 2014.
After his work with the national team, Flick made the move to Bayern Munich as an assistant coach to Niko Kovac. After Kovac’s sacking, Flick was named the interim manager. In his very first season, he led them to a continental treble. On his way to winning the Champions League in 2020, Flick’s Bayern side decimated Barcelona 8-2 to move into the Final. Bayern then secured a 1-0 win over PSG to get to their sixth Champions League trophy. In the following season, he helped them to the UEFA Super Cup, Club World Cup and Bundesliga triumphs. However, he then decided to call it quits with Bayern as he wanted to coach the German national team.
Having occupied some major positions in football, Hansi Flick is certainly a capable name to take over the managerial position at Barcelona. His style of offensive football can help the club get good results and he has proven in the past that it can win trophies. Parting ways with a club legend like Xavi is going to be difficult for Barca fans, but Flick is an upgrade as he already has a stacked resume and can bring the club back to the very top of football.
