Next Barcelona manager: Klopp move derailed as former Chelsea boss ‘wants’ the job; offer made

Antonio Conte might have derailed the Barcelona plan to appoint Jurgen Klopp, as the former Chelsea manager ‘wants’ the job and has reportedly ‘offered’ himself for it.

Barcelona won La Liga by 10 points last season despite being in the midst of financial turmoil. That’s something that has been going on for a couple of years now.

As a result, they will be forced to sell some of their more saleable assets in the summer.

They will also have to appoint a new manager, with Xavi recently revealing he’ll be vacating his post at the end of the season.

Indeed, while he guided Barcelona to a romping La Liga triumph last term, they’re currently third and six points worse off than second-placed Girona.

That his announcement followed Klopp’s decision to leave Liverpool by a few hours meant speculation over the German potentially taking the Barcelona job has been rife.

There have been multiple reports suggesting an approach is going to be made for Klopp.

That’s despite the fact it’s believed he has plans to take a hiatus from management, with the Liverpool boss even suggesting it was possible he never manages again.

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Klopp appointment thrown in the air by Conte

The latest report suggested Klopp might forego his hiatus given his love for life in Spain.

That followed reports that managing Barcelona would be of genuine interest to him not just because of the aforementioned enjoyment of the country.

But Barcelona now have other options to the elite boss. Indeed, according to Sport, there are ‘many coaches’ that ‘want to’ become the next manager of the Blaugrana.

One of those is former Chelsea and Tottenham manager Conte. His desire to take the job is so strong that he has apparently offered himself for the role.

There is a roadblock in the way of a move for Klopp in that when he negotiated his release from his Liverpool contract, it was agreed he would not take another job for a year after leaving, meaning Barcelona would have to hope they agreed to let him take the job if he wanted to.

If he was the only elite manager in the mix, they might well try their all to ensure that was the case.

But with a manager with the qualities and the record of Conte now in the mix, they might not push as hard, knowing they can still get a very good candidate through the door.

Indeed, Conte has won five league titles during his time in management, four in the Serie A and one in the Premier League.

Having shown his adaptability across countries, it would not be a surprise if he was able to follow suit in Spain, and it seems he might well have given Barcelona food for thought.

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