OFFICIAL! Barcelona appoint Hansi Flick as new manager to replace outgoing Xavi

Barcelona have officially announced Hansi Flick as the new manager of the club, with a contract running till the summer of 2026. Flick will be replacing club legend Xavi Hernández who was sacked in a rather unceremonious manner by the Barcelona board last week.

The Catalonia-based club said Flick put pen to paper with club president Joan Laporta, first vice president responsible for the sporting area, Rafa Yuste and the Club’s sporting director, Anderson Luís de Souza around.

"FC Barcelona and Hansi Flick have reached an agreement for the German to become men’s first team football coach until 30 June 2026," read the official statement.

Flick assumes the position at a time when Barcelona is going through a tough financial period. The team had a trophyless 2023-24 season and have seemingly fallen behind in the race against perennial rivals, Real Madrid, who appear stronger both on and off the field.

While Madrid are challenging for a record 15th UCL trophy later this week, Barcelona have struggled massively on the European stage in the last few years.

És el nostre moment.
Flick és culer. pic.twitter.com/8sSANyBMor — FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_cat) May 29, 2024

Prior to Flick's manager announcement, the club also released a statement, finalising Xavi's departure from the club despite his contract running until 2025.

"FC Barcelona and Xavi Hernández Creus have reached an agreement to sever the contract the coach and his staff had with the Club until the end of the 2024/25 season."

Notably, Xavi had announced his decision to depart the club in the middle of the season but the Barca board forced him to stay on the job before announcing the eventual sacking.

Flick's previous credentials

The German manager is known for his high, pressing intense and daring style of play, which brought him immense success at club as well as international level.

As the Bayern Munich manager, Flick managed to win a historic treble with the Bavarian club which included a painful 8-2 defeat for Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League.

After winning the Bundesliga, the German Cup and the Champions League, Bayern completedthe set with victory in the German Super Cup, the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup, repeating the feat achieved by Pep Guardiola’s Barça in 2009.

After retaining the Bundesliga title with the club in 20/21, Flick left the Bayern job for the German national team, replacing long-time managerJoachim Löw.

Flick's national stint started off positively, winning the first eight games in charge but the situation quickly unravelled when the Deutsch team lost to Japan in the 2022 Qatar World Cup.

After Germany were knocked out of the tournament in the group stage and a set of negative results followed, Flick was sacked as the national coach.

(With inputs from agencies)