Barcelona couldn’t be happier with Hansi Flick to this point, following an excellent begin to the season, with their win over Real Madrid the cherry on prime. However it isn’t so way back that he was thought of as a considerably dangerous appointment.
One of plenty of names linked with the job when Xavi Hernandez introduced he can be leaving in January, the likes of Sergio Conceicao, Rafael Marquez, Julian Nagelsmann and Roberto de Zerbi have been underlined as different potential choices.
Athletic Club are pushing to resume Nico Williams, whom Barcelona nonetheless view as a switch goal, although provided that his launch clause stays at €60m. @sport
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) October 31, 2024
While Barcelona solely severely thought of Marquez earlier than appointing Flick, that’s not to say that the Catalan giants couldn’t profit from their considering. Former AC Milan defender Filippo Galli has revealed on Cadena SER (through Sport) that Flick went to go to Zerbi at Brighton and Hove Albion on two events to observe his coaching classes in motion.
He additionally remarked on the similarities between Arrigo Sacchi’s Milan, standing out for his or her excessive offside line, noting that with them, the enduring supervisor always stopped their coaching classes to right their positioning.
It was the widespread perception that Real Madrid and Bayern Munich would exploit that line, however to Flick’s credit score, the well-drilled line paid dividends for Blaugrana. De Zerbi was thought to be a well-liked selection for Barcelona early within the yr, with Pep Guardiola having supposedly annointed him as a powerful successor for Xavi Hernandez.