The next few months will be crucial for FC Barcelona, as Deco and the board narrow down the candidates for the manager’s role which will be vacated by Xavi this summer.
It’s been a very poor season by Barca’s standards and arguably Xavi has been allowed an extended stay in the role because of his standing at the club.
Only the most fervent supporter would believe that the Catalans have any chance of silverware this season.
Against Europe’s best, Barca will be expected to struggle, and another poor showing in La Liga against Granada (3-3) means that the club are now a mammoth 10 points behind leaders Real Madrid with just 14 games to go.
That’s not acceptable for a club such as Barcelona and it could be argued that Xavi jumped before he was pushed.
His departure opens up the possibility of one of Europe’s best coaches taking his place, but as Fabrizio Romano notes, nothing has been decided yet.
“There have been a number of names linked with the Barcelona manager’s post and I already told you days ago guys that nothing is decided. It will take time,” he said in his exclusive Daily Briefing for CaughtOffside.
“Every day we have different reports from Barcelona. For example, we heard Klopp being mentioned for seven days and now he’s disappeared from media reports…
“Nothing is done or concrete now with any of the managers being mentioned – Tuchel, Flick, De Zerbi.
“In my opinion Roberto De Zerbi would be fantastic for the position, but it’s also very difficult to get him due to the release clause written into his contract.”
Whomever does land the prestigious post will certainly have a job on their hands.
Barca are still recovering from the Josep Maria Bartomeu era, and the club’s financial situation means that whomever does come in will almost have to work with one hand tied behind their back.
Promoting youth from their La Masia academy will be a pre-requisite, as will getting Barca back to the top table of domestic and European football.