Barcelona managerial target Thomas Tuchel will leave Bayern Munich at the end of the season

In a major development, Thomas Tuchel will be leaving Bayern Munich at the end of the season, the club has officially confirmed. The German tactician has been linked with Barcelona as a replacement for Xavi Hernandez.

Tuchel under pressure

Tuchel replaced Julian Nagelsmann at Bayern Munich in March last year but has not been able to convince in the hotseat at the Allianz Arena.

The 50-year-old just about managed to lead the team to the Bundesliga title last season and they seem set to miss out on the crown this campaign, with Bayer Leverkusen leading Die Roten by eight points.

There have been calls to sack Tuchel immediately, but Bayern Munich chairman Jan-Christian Dreesen confirmed after the latest defeat to VfL Bochum that the club intend to stick by him.

However, it has since been decided that the Bavarian giants will part ways with the former Chelsea manager, but not right away and wait until the end of the season to do so.

Good news for Barcelona?

This development will likely be well-received at Barcelona as Tuchel is one of the names on their shortlist of candidates to succeed Xavi at the end of the season.

The 50-year-old tactician is rated highly by club president Joan Laporta, who is actively seeking to appoint a manager from the German school of football.

However, Tuchel’s recent run at Bayern does raise some concerns while there will also be question marks over whether he can operate at Barcelona without a free reign in the market due to the club’s finances.

Apart from Tuchel, though, Barcelona also have their eyes on Hansi Flick, who is being eyed by Bayern Munich as a replacement for their current manager.

But Flick is understood to prefer a switch to Barça over a return to Bayern Munich.

It now remains to be seen which way Barcelona sway and how things develop.