There was such a commotion outside Barcelona’s Gran Melia hotel on Tuesday night that you might have been forgiven for thinking Taylor Swift was in town.
As cameras flashed and TV reporters jostled for position, finally a figure emerged. It wasn’t Swift (she was in Madrid). It was Barca vice-president Rafael Yuste.
“How did it go with Hansi Flick?” came the questions. “Are you satisfied with the signing?”
“Right now, I’ll be satisfied with getting to my car,” Yuste replied with a smile.
Inside, still gathered around a table at the hotel’s restaurant were Flick, his agent Pini Zahavi and various senior Barca executives, including president Joan Laporta and sporting director Deco.
Barca wanted to keep Flick away from the cameras so their own pictures would be the first when they made the announcement. Yuste walked out the front door, but Flick left in a mini-van with tinted windows, out the rear exit.
The following midday, a video released on Barca’s social media channels confirmed what everyone already knew: Flick was officially confirmed as Barcelona’s new coach.
That same day, the German made his first trip to Barca’s training ground, again meeting with Deco and his assistant Bojan Krkic. It was a very brief visit but he also met with Alejandro Balde and Frenkie de Jong as both were doing gym work as part of their injury recoveries.
📹 𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝑽𝒊𝒆𝒘 👀
¡Así fue el primer día de Flick desde dentro! pic.twitter.com/sYiYGkzHCT
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) May 30, 2024
Flick then left for Ibiza to spend a holiday with his family. A formal presentation to the media is planned for July. A Barca source — who, like all those cited here preferred to speak anonymously to protect their position — said this was requested by Flick himself out of respect for Xavi, as his dismissal had only just taken place.
Barca’s players have effectively been off duty since Monday, May 27 — the day after Xavi’s final match in charge, a 2-1 La Liga win at Sevilla. It is expected club training will resume again on July 10.
So right now Flick has a bit of time before properly getting started, but Barcelona tends to be a busy club, even at the quieter times with the season now over.
Here’s what will be on the agenda…
Learning the language
Even though Flick spoke in English with the board during his first dinner in Barcelona, he still needs to learn to speak some Spanish to communicate with the players. First Spanish, then Catalan. That is something that always brings joy to many Barca fans, and shows more commitment to the club.
Listo para la pretemporada 🐆 pic.twitter.com/Wcsm4RbBvr
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) May 30, 2024
Club sources say that, for the moment, he communicates in English (and that there has been a good understanding with Deco and Laporta) but that he has been learning Spanish for a few months. Barca have offered to provide assistance if needed.
What to do with the Joaos
Both Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix spent the season on loan at Barca, from Manchester City and Atletico Madrid respectively.
Cancelo has been more prominent this season although defensively he has been erratic. Joao Felix’s signing was personally favoured by Laporta, while Xavi back in the summer preferred other targets. He mostly appeared from the bench towards the end of the season, with his last start coming in April.
In negotiations with Barca, Flick said he was happy with the squad and saw it as capable of winning titles. But the reality is Barca’s sporting direction, led by Deco but also likely to be closely informed by Laporta, will decide whether the two Portuguese players stay or go.
Will Joao Cancelo, Joao Felix and Raphinha be at Barca next season? (Pedro Salado/Getty Images)
Their decision-making will also depend on whether the club can manage to improve its financial picture. La Liga rules mean they must fill a €130million (£110m; $141m) hole in their accounts for this season by the end of June if they are to bring in any new players this summer — even on free transfers or loans.
Navigating the transfer window
Barca will have to consider big sales but there has been no concrete decision on any departures.
Given the club’s financial situation, any good offer will be listened to — although some players are considered untouchable. They include Lamine Yamal, Gavi, Pedri and Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
It also looks likely Robert Lewandowski will stay. One of the reasons that led to the decision to fire Xavi was that he asked for the departure of some players the club considers to be important, one of them being Lewandowski, with whom Flick shares an agent.
Oriol Romeu will probably leave, and Ronald Araujo has previously been considered a strong potential candidate for a sale, as has Raphinha after his positive end to the campaign (the theory being that his market value will be high).
Araujo will play for Uruguay at the Copa America (Fran Santiago/Getty Images)
Sources close to Araujo say he has not been told the club are looking to sell him. They say he is happy in Barcelona and his intention is to stay. Under contract until 2026, he is a centre-back that Flick likes. But he cannot control whether the club wants to sell him to make money.
Another whose future is up in the air is Sergi Roberto. The Catalan will soon be out of contract and can no longer train with Barcelona. The club’s intention is that, if there is room on the salary limit, he will be re-signed on a new deal.
But beyond verbal promises, he has nothing else. Sources close to the player say he feels closer to a permanent departure.
They say he has never wanted to listen to rival offers because his club is Barcelona, and that there is no problem with staying on the reduced salary that was agreed around his last renewal. Now, for the first time, he is listening to offers in case Barca cannot make room for him and he ends up released.
Flick will also be waiting to see if Ansu Fati stays. After his disappointing season at Brighton, Barca would be happy to send him out on another loan, but Fati wants to test himself during pre-season and prove that he is capable of contributing.
Another player who would not be bad to loan is Vitor Roque. The €30million Brazilian (the deal to sign him could be worth double that with potential add-ons) arrived to great fanfare but has not had a starring role with Xavi.
Sources in the dressing room believe he still needs to refine his technique and a loan to a Spanish club is considered a good option. Besides, he is not registered with La Liga at the moment. He was only registered temporarily because of Gavi’s injury.
La Masia’s new generation
The last big issue is Barca’s young talent.
One of Xavi’s legacies will be backing the latest wave of talents to emerge from Barca’s youth academy.
The club believes Yamal should be a structural player for the coming seasons and Pau Cubarsi is already one of the team’s first-choice centre-backs. Fermin Lopez has also earned his place and Hector Fort has just renewed his contract until 2026. Next up is Marc Casado.
But, like much of the above, Flick’s decision-making on how these youngsters fit into his squad planning will have to wait until Barca fix their finances — that remains the priority issue across the club.
(Top photo: Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
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