Quique Setien is reportedly on his way out of Barcelona just 6 months after replacing the former manager of the club, Ernesto Valverde on January 13, 2020. However, the board of the club could put this plan aside if the former Real Betis manager wins the Spanish La Liga or the UEFA Champions League for Barcelona this season.
Barcelona’s board has been a fan of the 61-year-old manager and he has been linked with the club since January 2019. However, the deal did not materialise as Ernesto Valverde continued to lead the Spanish La Liga giants then.
Due to poor run of games, Barcelona sacked Valverde before he could see out the 2019-2020 season. The arrival of Quique Setien changed the fortunes of the club a bit but that didn’t last for too long as the results began to be inconsistent.
For instance, since football returned to Spain after three months of coronavirus break, Barcelona has played 5 games in the Spanish La Liga, winning three and drawing two, which therefore gave their lead to their bitter rival Real Madrid.
The Madrid based club is now two points ahead of Barcelona and the title is theirs to lose as far the season is concerned.
Besides the inconsistency in Barcelona games, some influential players at Barcelona are reportedly not happy with the style of the coach and they want him out of the club. They have reportedly complained about his exhausting training routines and conservative style of play.
Based on these, the board of the club are willing to let him go before the beginning of next season. But that could change if the club starts winning consistently in their remaining games and probably unseat Real Madrid at the summit of the league table.
In Europe, Barcelona is currently one leg in the quarter-final of the UEFA Champions League as they drew 1-1 away to Napoli in the first leg of the round of 16 before the coronavirus pandemic halted football. Setien is expected to scale through this round and go all the way to lift the trophy if he wants to remain at Barcelona until 2022 when his current contract is expected to expire.
Possible Replacement for Quique Setien
A legend of Barcelona football club Xavier Hernández (Xavi) is being touted as the possible replacement for Quique Setien if he is sacked this summer.
Xavi is currently coaching Qatari club Al Sadd and has never hidden his desire to manage his former club which still has some of his former teammates – Lionel Messi and Gerard Piqué, as players.
Also, if Setien is sacked and Xavi fails to join the club as a manager, the current coach of Barcelona B, Xavi Garcia Pimienta, is seen as a possible replacement.
