Emmanuel Petit Exclusive: Barcelona's top two managerial candidates are Spanish – but unlikely to join forces
Ever since Xavi Hernandez announced that he will step down as Barcelona head coach at the end of the season, attention has turned to who could be his successful successor. Many names have already been linked, although the Sporting Deco Director is not yet ready to finalize an appointment.
Reports suggest that a more experienced coach is wanted, someone who is able to handle the pressure of managing one of the biggest clubs in world football, and one who generates a lot of scrutiny from the fans and the media. With this in mind, a few key candidates have emerged.
Hansi Flick seems to be the main candidate at the moment, and stepped a little closer to the role in recent days. Equally, the likes of Thomas Tuchel and Jurgen Klopp have also been promoted, although not well placed.
The former Barcelona midfielder Emmanuel Petit spoke exclusively to Football España to give his thoughts on who Xavi's successor should be.
“There are some big name managers on the market at the moment. You have Flick, Mourinho, Conte, Klopp. I would say that Klopp is definitely the best solution for Barcelona, but he is taking a sabbatical. It will take months to reload – I like Klopp, he's always honest and straight to the point.”
While Petit listed several high-profile and experienced managers, he actually believes that Barcelona should look to appoint a younger coach, someone who can look to build a project. He outlined two key candidates, although he (partially) favors one over the other.
“Since it will not be Klopp, for me there are only two options. One of them is forbidden (to me), and that is Arteta – he will stay at Arsenal. I think his story is not over yet, he much more to try and improve. He has not yet reached the top of this beautiful team, even if he wins the Premier League this season, it would be too soon for him. I think he can manage to go further with this team.
“The other, for me, is the best solution, and this is Xabi Alonso. His work in Germany is amazing, he surprised me a lot how quickly he became as a manager, especially when you are in a country where you do not know not much, you don't speak the language. I think it's remarkable what he did with Leverkusen. If I were Barcelona, I would try everything to bring him. He has his own identity in the game; his own vision of what he wants his players to do they do; he is Spanish. I think it would be the best solution for Barcelona.
There are many problems with the hiring of Arteta or Alonso. First, the biggest is that it is very unlikely that either of them would want to take charge of Barcelona from this summer. Arteta seems well settled at Arsenal, while Alonso is a devoted Madridista, so he's not expected to be too interested in a move to the Blaugrana – plus he's much more likely to join Liverpool if he leaves Leverkusen .
The second is that neither fits the bill of an “experienced” manager, which is the profile Barcelona have established. Of course, both are more qualified than Xavi was when he was appointed in 2021, but they could both also crumble under the pressure of managing a much bigger club than they are now.
However, that doesn't mean either would be a bad match – in fact, both would likely be excellent decisions from Barcelona, but the main problem is that it doesn't seem likely to happen. For now, your Flicks and Tuchel are probably the best bets, or maybe even another manager will emerge as the summer approaches.
This interview was conducted with Betway.
