Jurgen Klopp will not be Barcelona’s next coach, entourage confirmed he wants a break

The 2024 winter transfer window was one of the driest in recent times. Barely any big clubs were in the market looking for reinforcements, and even less moves were made eventually.

In fact, the biggest news of the year so far has been Jurgen Klopp’s decision to leave Liverpool at the end of the season. The German confirmed that he is “running out of energy”, and that he wants to take a break.

Soon after this, Xavi too, announced his resignation from Barcelona once the 2023/24 season comes to a close. He made similar claims as Klopp, saying that he is tired and that he feels his work at the club has been left unrecognised.

Not too late after that, reports of Barcelona hoping to persuade Klopp started circling the media. Some outlets even claimed that club president Joan Laporta wants to convince him to push his sabbatical and instead take up the Camp Nou job.

Predictably, though, these reports have come crashing down. Esport3 have now reported that Klopp will not take up the Barcelona job this summer. His entourage have confirmed that the Liverpool gaffer wants to take a sabbatical before deciding his next steps.

What are Barcelona’s options?

There seem to be two men leading the race for Barcelona right now, in the form of Hansi Flick and Sergio Conceicao.

The former was fired from the German National Team in September 2023, and is currently out of a job. While his work with Die Mannschaft was largely unimpressive, Flick famously guided Bayern Munich to a sextuple before leaving.

Conceicao, meanwhile, has spent six years coaching at Porto, but seems to be ready for a new challenge, according to reports.

Barcelona sporting director, Deco, is pushing for the Portuguese’s hiring, while Laporta is convinced Flick is the man for the job.

There are also other names on the table, such as Julian Nagelsmann, Thomas Tuchel, Roberto de Zerbi, Imanol Alguacil, among a few others.