Barcelona coach turns down La Liga job offer | OneFootball

Barcelona recruited Thiago Alcantara to Hansi Flick’s coaching staff on a permanent basis earlier this year, but they could have lost him in recent weeks. The former Bayern Munich and Liverpool player, who came through the ranks at La Masia, has attracted interest from a possible managerial option.

As reported by Matteo Moretto, Thiago was approached by Levante to take over as their new head coach, but he turned down that opportunity. The 34-year-old, who only retired as a player 18 months ago, was asked to replace Julian Calero, who was sacked by the Valencian club two weeks ago.

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Raul Gonzalez also turned down Levante offer

Thiago is not the only candidate to have been approached by Levante, with Moretto stating that former Real Madrid Castilla head coach Raul Gonzalez had also been on their radar. However, he also knocked back the offer, despite his desire to get into full-time management in the aftermath of leaving Los Blancos.

The offer to Thiago and Raul would suggest that Levante are prepared to take a chance on an inexperienced manager, which would be risky given their current predicament. They currently sit bottom of La Liga after 15 matches, with five points separating them from the safety of 17th place.

It will be interesting to see who ends up taking the Levante job, but Barcelona will be pleased that Thiago is staying put. They had to wait a while to officially appoint him as one of Flick’s assistants, following an impressive trial period during the summer of 2024, only weeks after he announced his retirement from playing. Senior club officials see him as a key member of the first team coaching setup, and if he does go into management, the top job at the Spotify Camp Nou could be his in years to come.