Bayern Munich were close to signing Hansi Flick before Barcelona swooped in – report

Hansi Flick tasted euphoria with Bayern Munich when he won the sextuple in the pandemic year and will go down as a legend of the club. Last night, he defeated the same team with his new club, Barcelona, with a ruthless 4-1 margin.

The German tactician took charge in Catalonia earlier this year after the Blaugrana parted ways with Xavi Hernandez and has instantly turned the team’s fortunes around.

As revealed by SPORT, however, he was ironically close to a return to Bayern Munich before signing for Barcelona and could well have been on the opposite bench last night.

The Blaugrana were quicker

As relayed by the outlet, Bayern Munich were in serious talks with Flick to take over from Thomas Tuchel at the end of last season with sporting director Max Eberl taking personal charge of the talks.

The director was in direct contact with Flick over a return and spoke to the manager even on May 11th.

Flick has done an excellent job at Barcelona. (Photo by Pedro Salado/Getty Images)

Barcelona soon entered the scene and moved swiftly with Deco and Bojan Krkic flying to London to meet with Flick and convince him. The meeting with Barcelona’s representatives happened on May 22nd, just over a week after Bayern’s last call.

With no time to waste, the Catalans officially announced the sacking of the previous manager on 24th May and reached an agreement with Flick and the Germans thus opting to sign Vincent Kompany.

Another factor, as revealed by the publication, was that the new Barcelona coach demanded a short-term contract with Bayern and wished to commit only for one season. The Germans, however, preferred a long-term project and were opposed to the idea.

For Barcelona, the manager signed a two-year deal and is currently obligated to the club until 2026. Given the team’s improvement, however, he could be set to stay in Catalonia for a good couple of years.