Barcelona chief makes Mikel Arteta and Jurgen Klopp admission in new manager search

Sporting director Deco labels it ‘pointless’ to chase Arsenal boss
Marc Mayo21 March 2024

Barcelona sporting director Deco has named Mikel Arteta and Jurgen Klopp among the “top managers” who he very would much like to bring in as his team’s new coach - but admits that trying to do so would be “pointless.”

Liverpool boss Klopp will depart Anfield this summer but has spoken of his desire to take a break from football, and possibly retire altogether from the dugout.

Meanwhile, Arsenal coach Arteta has been linked with succeeding Xavi at the LaLiga giants since the Blaugrana legend’s decision to leave at the end of the season.

However, such a move is not on the cards - as Standard Sport have reported - and Deco has revealed that Barcelona are not currently in talks with any coach over taking over from Xavi.

“Nothing has been decided yet, but we are attentive,” he told the Què T’hi Jugues podcast.

“Of course I am charmed by Luis Enrique, he is a top coach.

“Obviously you can appreciate top managers like Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp as well, but they are not available. Just like Mikel Arteta, Andoni Iraola and Sergio Conceicao, too.

“We haven’t spoken with them at all and it’s pointless to mention them. We’re not speaking to any manager yet.”

Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi is among the coaches linked with the Barcelona hotseat.

Rafael Marquez, the Blaugrana reserve team boss, former Germany manager Hansi Flick and Thomas Tuchel, who will soon depart Bayern Munich, are also touted for the role and will all be available this summer.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in