Romano reveals his favourite to replace Xavi at Barcelona

Tom Weber

• 14 Feb 2024 17:04 GMT
• 3 min read

Fabrizio Romano believes that Roberto de Zerbi would be a 'fantastic' successor to Xavi at Barcelona.

The Blaugrana are looking for a new head coach after Xavi surprisingly announced last month that he is to depart the club at the end of the season. With last season's LaLiga champions already out of this year's title race, the 44-year-old has decided that he should call it quits.

His decision came as a surprise to fans and club chiefs alike, with sporting director Deco admitting that Xavi's announcement was very much out of the blue, leaving the Portuguese and president Joan Laporta in an unenviable position.

The cash-strapped Catalans are expected to bring in a big-name replacement, but they likely will not be able to afford coaches who are currently under contract such as Xabi Alonso at high-flying Bayer Leverkusen or Brighton's Roberto de Zerbi. Ex-Germany and Bayern boss Hansi Flick appears to be the obvious choice, but no final decision on the next coach has as yet been made, according to Fabrizio Romano.

Romano's favourite

“There have been a number of names linked with the Barcelona manager’s post and I already told you days ago guys that nothing is decided. It will take time,” the Italian transfer expert told CaughtOffside. "Every day we have different reports from Barcelona."

"For example, we heard [Jurgen] Klopp being mentioned for seven days and now he’s disappeared from media reports… Nothing is done or concrete now with any of the managers being mentioned – [Thomas] Tuchel, Flick, De Zerbi."

“In my opinion, Roberto De Zerbi would be fantastic for the position, but it’s also very difficult to get him due to the release clause written into his contract.” The exact value of the Brighton coach's release clause is not known, but it has been rumoured that it could be as high as €20 million, a fee Barcelona are unlikely to be willing to pay.