Barcelona players have made their choice: war against Mbappé for new coach

This Saturday the world was shocked by the announcement made by Xavi Hernandez after the defeat against Villarreal in Catalunya. In the press conference that followed, the coach explained that he will not continue at Barcelona after the end of the 2023/24 season. The team's poor performances during the last months and the failure in La Liga, the Spanish Super Cup and the Copa del Rey were enough reasons for him to make this decision, even though they are still competing in the Champions League.

Immediately the social media, newspapers and TV shows were flooded with rumors about Xavi's possible replacements. The most likely options are Rafa Marquez, who currently manages Barcelona's reserve team in Spain's third division, and Thiago Motta, former player of the Catalan side and manager of Italy's Bologna. The latter is reportedly the favorite of Deco, the club's sporting director.

Top coaches currently working in the Premier League have also been mentioned, such as Arsenal's Mikel Arteta and Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp. The German coincidentally this week announced that he will be leaving The Reds and is one of Joan Laporta's favorites. And they are joined by Julian Nagelsmann, who has the difficult task of leading the German national team at Euro 2024.

However, it seems that the Barcelona players have another favorite: Luis Enrique. According to Sport newspaper, several of the squad's stars believe that he is the right one to solve the team's problems and are excited about the possibility of having him back. Some players like Marc Andre Ter Stegen and Sergi Roberto were coached by him in his previous spell at the club, while others knew him in the Spanish national team, such as Pedri, Gavi, Alejandro Balde and Ferran Torres.

Difficult to leave France

Despite the desire of many Barcelona players, Luis Enrique's departure from Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this season seems unlikely. He arrived last summer with the goal of achieving what no one has ever done: to turn the Parisian side into the best team in Europe. And so far he is on the right track, as they are leaders of Ligue 1 and are in the round of 16 of the Champions League. In addition, he has managed to get Kylian Mbappé to show excellent performances and to be the team's top scorer.