Spanish press reports shed light on Guardiola’s advice to the Barcelona management to contract with one of the technical managers active in the Saudi League in the upcoming summer transfer period.
According to the Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo, Argentine Marcelo Gallardo, the coach of the Jeddah Football Association, who will leave the Saudi team at the end of the season, was nominated by Guardiola to Laporta in order to sign him as a successor to Xavi.
The Spanish newspaper pointed out that Gallardo was a popular choice among Barcelona officials since his work with Argentinian River Plate, and that Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola had previously publicly praised him and recommended him to Barcelona management.
It is noteworthy that Barcelona thanked Xavi and dismissed him yesterday after the administration decided to sign the German Hansi Flick as coach of the Catalan team with a two-year contract starting next season.
The newspaper concluded that Xavi’s recent statements about the Catalan club’s inability to compete with Real Madrid and the rest of the major European clubs due to the club’s economic conditions were the main factor that caused his dismissal from coaching Barcelona.
