Report reveals the details of the meeting that led Barcelona to appoint Hansi Flick as their head coach | OneFootball

With the way his first season in charge of the team has gone, there is no doubt left that the decision to appoint Hansi Flick as the Blaugrana side’s head coach after Xavi Hernandez’s departure was the right decision.

The German coach has led the Catalan side to a domestic treble, and has proven his skills and fit for the club for now, but at the time of his appointment, there was a lot of scepticism and doubts about his ability to lead Barcelona.

Joan Laporta’s entourage contacts Ralf Rangnick

In a recent interview, Joan Laporta had revealed that he had consulted with Ralf Rangnick before taking the decision to appoint Flick as the head coach.

Now, a report from SPORT has provided more details on how the top Blaugrana official met with the revolutionary German coach and what they discussed in their meeting.

On 19th October 2020, there was an interview of Ralf Rangnick published in a Spanish outlet in which the manager talked about the German style of management and highlighted the problems suffered by Barcelona.

Mike Puig, the former director of the Barça Academy schools from 2004 to 2010 during Joan Laporta’s first term, was one of the individuals who read this interview, and immediately called Rafa Yuste to recommend him to read the interview as well.

Yuste asked Puig if he knew Rangnick. Puig did not know him but got his phone number, which allowed the current Blaugrana Vice President to contact the German. His phone call with Rangnick convinced him so much that he ended up inviting him to Barcelona to meet with Joan Laporta.

Former Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez with Barcelona Vice President Rafa Yuste. [Photo by LLUIS GENE/AFP via Getty Images]

Rangnick suggested Hansi Flick for Barcelona

The German manager arrived in the Catalan city eight days after the publication of this article. Puig picked him from the airport and showed him around the Blaugrana training facilities, and one of the disappointments for Rangnick during this tour was that the players did not sleep at the training facilities.

Then the two individuals got to a hotel for lunch and were also joined by Joan Laporta. During this meeting, they talked about different coaches, including Nagelsmann, Klopp, Tuchel, and Flick, and Flick was ultimately suggested by Rangnick to Barcelona. It was also during this meal that the three diners got to know of Josep Maria Bartomeu’s resignation.

Laporta replaced Bartomeu as the Catalan club’s President, but Ronald Koeman was the head coach at that time and Flick had just taken up the job with the German national team. Following the Dutch manager’s departure, Xavi Hernandez was appointed as the next coach with a unanimous decision on part of the Blaugrana club.