Report: UCL winner learning Spanish to potentially replace Xavi at Barcelona

Even though there’s still a long way to go in the 2023-24 season, Xavi Hernandez has already decided to step down at Barcelona at the end of the campaign. While the Spanish giants haven’t announced his replacement yet, a few candidates have been linked with the post.

Hans-Dieter Flick is one of those names, and according Bild, the German manager is already learning Spanish to be prepared for the Barca job. The report claims the former German national team coach “would like” to work at Camp Nou as he’s looking for a “new challenge” in the summer.

Flick was the architect behind Bayern Munich’s historic run in the 2020 UEFA Champions League, leading the Bavarians to a memorable campaign in which they didn’t lose a single game en route to the title.

He later took charge of Germany, but nothing went according to plan. Hansi Flick was fired from the German national team in September 2023, following a 1-4 loss to Japan. 10 months earlier, his squad suffered a group stage elimination at the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

Head coach Hans-Dieter Flick of Germany reacts during the international friendly match between Germany and Japan at Volkswagen Arena on September 09, 2023 in Wolfsburg, Germany.

Deco says Barcelona haven’t talked with any coach yet

While Flick emerges as a candidate to take over the day Xavi leaves, Barcelona sporting director Deco said the club hasn’t begun the search of a new manager yet as it’s still too soon to be thinking about Xavi’s replacement.

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Reports surfacing on candidates to replace Xavi at Barcelona

“At the moment, we haven’t spoken to any coach. We are assimilating the departure of Xavi,” Deco said in an interview with Spanish outlet La Vanguardia. The Portuguese, however, explained what the club expects from their future coach.

“The decision will be made by the club. Decisions are not made by one person alone. Whoever comes in has to follow a working philosophy; we will hardly be a team that doesn’t want to play well, that doesn’t want to possess the ball,” he added. “Starting from that idea, every coach has their characteristics, but the one who comes in has to have ambition and hunger to achieve great things. And he must know where he is coming to.“

Deco addressed the rumors about Thiago Motta, who is doing a great job at the helm of Bologna, but admitted that he doesn’t “follow” his work so much because he doesn’t watch the Serie A side regularly. Another candidate he talked about is Rafa Marquez, who is working at Barcelona B. “He is a young coach who is growing in the face of difficulties. Being here will make him a better coach,” Deco said about the Mexican.