Report – 45-year-old manager still alive in the race for Barcelona job | OneFootball

Even as contradicting reports emerge on Barcelona director Deco and co-ordinator Bojan Krkic’s alleged meeting with Hansi Flick in London, SPORT reports that Rafa Marquez is still very much alive in the race to replace Xavi as manager.

Reports claimed today that Deco and Bojan had flown to London to hold a meeting with Flick and his agent Pini Zahavi. However, some outlets suggest that there was no meeting held and no talks took place.

Irrespective of that, it has become clear that Flick has become a leading candidate to replace Xavi as the Barça manager.

Marquez not done yet

However, it does not mean that Rafa Marquez is out of the reckoning to become the first-team manager at the Catalan outfit.

The 45-year-old Mexican tactician, currently the manager of Barça Atletic, is not a stopgap or emergency solution. Instead, he is seen as a serious candidate and that will continue to be so.

Xavi will be sacked by Barcelona. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

The sporting management knows him perfectly and does not need meetings to know his way of working or his project, having seen him excel with the subsidiary side.

In fact, as reported previously, Deco believes that Marquez would be the best-suited to succeed Xavi because of his familiarity with the club as well as his knowledge of the youngsters coming through in the team.

So, even though there may have been some advances on the Flick front, Marquez is not ruled out contention as of yet.

And, as things stand, if Xavi leaves, it will likely be one of Marquez or Flick who will take over the reins of the Barcelona senior team next season.