“Sport” newspaper reported that Rafael Marquez has become the most likely choice to succeed Xavi Hernandez as coach of Barcelona next season.
Despite the hesitation of other big names such as Hansi Flick, Roberto De Zerbi, Thomas Tuchel and others, Joan Laporta’s management settled on the name of the Mexican coach to coach the Catalan club.
Barcelona’s priority remains to keep Xavi at the helm of the Blaugrana for another season, but after leaving the Champions League, it has become difficult to convince the coach of this.
If Xavi insists on leaving, Laporta believes that Marquez is the most suitable to succeed him and would like to repeat Pep Guardiola’s experience of promoting Barça’s reserve coach to lead the first team.
Marquez, 45 years old, has been leading Barcelona’s reserve since July 2022, and over the course of nearly two years, he played 72 matches, winning 34 of them, losing 18, and drawing 20 times.
Marquez had confirmed to the media after Xavi announced his departure that he dreams of leading the first team for Barca, and stressed that he is the ideal choice because of his awareness of the inner workings of Camp Nou.
