There is no doubt that the Oriotarran is one of the best coaches in Spain and Europe, which is why it is no surprise that he is on Joan Laporta’s agenda as a replacement for Xavi.
Barça’s heavy defeat against Villarreal CF left one fatal victim who would now have a replacement: Imanol Alguacil. The Oriotarra coach is the first name on Joan Laporta’s agenda to relieve Xavi Hernández, who does not seem to change the fateful course of the culé team. In fact, it has already been signed that his departure will take place on July 1st of this year.
Maybe the departure of the Catalan coach Sooner rather than later, which is why Barça’s president is accelerating the search for a new coach. In this way, Deco is already in contact with Imanol Alguacil’s advisors to clarify availability and determine if there is interest in the Basque coach. At the moment Real Sociedad is firmly against it.
Barça awaits Imanol Alguacil’s response
Although it was said that the candidate to replace the current coach would come from within, more precisely from Barcelona B, this option is not considered a priority. Rafa Márquez would therefore be a plan B in the event that the sports management does not manage to get a name by July 1st.
Alguacil is the first real and viable option for now as he is a well-known name in the Azulgrana team. All their experience is combined in a single team (Real Sociedad), so the Blaugrana destination could be the bridge to other European leagues such as the English one. However, we will have to wait for the coach himself to comment on this.
Imanol Alguacil is Barça’s real option, but there is also a dream option
The announcement of Xavi’s departure gives rise to a lot of material, and in this sense many names appear in Laporta’s portfolio. The names range from Pep Guardiola to José Mourinho himself. But for now there is an alternative that many teams around the world are dreaming of, although it has a touch of realism.
Since Jürgen Klopp announced his retirement from Liverpool at the end of the season, many clubs have made different offers for the German. One of them is Barça, which dreams of the arrival of the German on the Barça bench. But it will be very difficult as the 56-year-old coach has stated that he will be sidelined for at least a year after leaving the Reds club.