Barcelona chief Deco has been asked about a potential homecoming for Pep Guardiola to the Camp Nou.
The La Liga giants are on the lookout for a new manager after boss Xavi shockingly announced he would be leaving the club at the end of the season on Saturday.
Xavi has been in the Barcelona hot seat since 2021 and guided his former club to a title triumph last season but announced his departure after the weekend’s 5-3 defeat to Villarreal at home.
Barca have now been linked with a wide range of managers, many of which sporting director Deco has been asked about, including Guardiola.
Deco addresses Pep Guardiola links
Speaking to Esport3, Deco insisted Barcelona weren’t holding talks with any manager just yet as they assess Xavi’s exit and certainly wouldn’t be making a ‘disrespectful’ approach for Guardiola.
“We are not speaking to any manager, really. Zero talks,” the former Barcelona and Chelsea playmaker said.
“Pep Guardiola is under contract with another club, I’d never speak about him – it’d be disrespectful for Man City.”
Would Pep Guardiola be tempted by Barcelona return?
Deep, deep down, there must be a romantic part of Guardiola that would love to return to Barcelona. It’s his footballing home.
He is Catalonian born and bred, reared in La Masia and has achieved unparalleled success at Camp Nou.
To return to Barca and restore them to their former greatness must be an alluring challenge.
But it would also be an incredibly difficult one. Though they won La Liga last season, it’s well documented how much of a mess the club is financially.
Barcelona have been forced to pull ‘financial levers’ in order to still sign big-money stars and it has left them with an imbalanced squad.
Their money troubles forced them to release the greatest player of all time – Lionel Messi – and they are still not able to compete at the highest level in the Champions League despite some improvement.
In contrast, City couldn’t be a better-run club. One that is so finely attuned to get the absolute best out of Guardiola. All his best friends are in leadership positions and Guardiola is able to focus with (mostly) no stress on the task at hand: masterminding some beautiful, winning football.
Guardiola is contracted until 2025 so certainly won’t be leaving before then anyway.
