Barcelona are on the prowl for a new manager in the 2024/25 season, as club legend Xavi will step down after the current campaign amidst increasing question marks regarding his credibility as a coach for an elite club.
La Blaugrana will, therefore, choose among a who’s who of great managers, including free agents like Hansi Flick and top coaches currently with clubs (or countries) like Julian Nagelsmann and Rúben Amorim.
According to a report from Juan Jiménez Salvadó, the current top candidate to take over for Xavi isn’t Jürgen Klopp, Thomas Tuchel, Nagelsmann, Flick, or another manager from a blue blood club.
No, it is an Italian, not a German, coach who is apparently in the lead, as Barcelona are said to have Brighton coach Roberto De Zerbi at the top of their list.
Flick seems like the odds-on favorite to coach Barcelona, given his past success as a treble winner at Bayern Munich, when he memorably beat Barça 8-2 in the Champions League knockout stages.
However, there are some Culers who would welcome De Zerbi as their manager, as he’s been successful at every stop he has gone and is an even more innovative manager than Flick.
Plus, De Zerbi could come in and bring some of his top young stars from Brighton to the Barcelona squad, such as forwards João Pedro and Kaoru Mitoma.
That’s a big bonus that the other managers, especially Flick and Nagelsmann, can’t quite offer. De Zerbi could upgrade Barcelona in ways the others cannot, which may be why he is being viewed as the favorite by some.
But it’s still early in the process. Barcelona are going to have to compete with others for De Zerbi, Flick, and any other candidate worth hiring. There’s no guarantee they will get their top option or that they even have a top option at this juncture.
That said, there are real positives about De Zerbi, who has taken Brighton to European football and was successful at the Champions League level for Shakhtar against, of all clubs, Real Madrid. He is a great candidate.
Former editor of The Real Champs and Old Juve, covering Real Madrid and Juventus
