Barcelona ‘racing’ to sign young Portuguese manager as Bayern, Liverpool reignite interest

Barcelona are in the hunt for a new manager after the news of Xavi’s resignation took even them by surprise following the loss against Villarreal at home.

While the club are still happy with Xavi, and want to convince him to stay beyond this season, the operation is difficult as the Spaniard seems to have made up his mind.

Barcelona are going to try to persuade him regardless, with reports claiming that he has set some conditions over his continuity. Joan Laporta is also expected to hold a meeting with him after El Clasico.

Understanding the complexity of this, Barça are preparing contingency plans by keeping tabs on several top managers across Europe.

While Hansi Flick and Roberto De Zerbi seemed to be the priority targets for the longest time, it now seems that Barcelona have set their eyes on a different young manager.

Operation Ruben Amorim

According to a report published by Independent, Barcelona are ‘racing’ to sign Sporting CP manager Ruben Amorim in the summer.

The 39-year-old manager has become the subject of a ton of interest from a lot of European teams, who will be a part of the manager merry-go-round after the season ends.

This includes Bayern Munich and Liverpool, both of whom have confirmed that Thomas Tuchel and Jurgen Klopp will leave the club, respectively, once they call curtains on the season.

The report claims that Barcelona were the favourites for Amorim’s signature up until last week. Xabi Alonso’s decision to continue at Bayer Leverkusen, though, has shaken up things majorly.

Alonso will stay put in Bundesliga. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images)

The Spaniard was the priority target for both Liverpool and Bayern, who will now shift their attention to Amorim, among a few other targets.

Barcelona’s other options

Earlier this week, it was reported that Barcelona had discarded the option to sign Julian Nagelsmann due to his lack of experience at the highest level. Pursuing Amorim would be interesting, then, given he is only three years older than the German.

Barcelona are also looking at the likes of Hansi Flick, Thomas Tuchel, and De Zerbi as potential candidates.

Flick seems to be the leading candidate for the gig as it stands, though.