At this point in time, one of the most important tasks that officials at FC Barcelona have to undertake in the coming months is to find a successor for Xavi Hernandez. Deco and his staff have been working on this operation for several months now, and multiple names have been linked with the Catalan club for this position.
Earlier, it was expected that Barcelona would make a final decision in this regard by the end of March. Most of the background work for this purpose has already been done, and there are three or four names on the shortlist remaining for the Catalans.
For now, only the last few steps are remaining, i.e., personal interviews with the candidates and obtaining the final approval from President Joan Laporta. However, SPORT reports that these final few steps will not be taken in the coming days, as the club has frozen this process at least up to the conclusion of the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League.
Laporta wants to test how the current project with Xavi ends, and if the team is able to get past even the quarter-finals of the UCL, Laporta will try to convince Xavi to continue at the club for another year. If the team is unable to do so, the Sporting Department will continue the hiring process from where it was paused.
As Barcelona have not shown any great urgency to select and appoint a successor for Xavi, it also becomes increasingly clear that Deco will have the full power in regards to transfers. Decisions in this regard are already being made at Barcelona, and Deco is looking to complete the signing of a pivot in the coming days, if the club’s finances allow for it.
Retention of Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo is another priority of the club. Xavi is currently collaborating with the club in this regard, and this can end up to be important if he changes his mind and decides to stay at Barcelona for the next season.
