Barcelona appointed former Bayern Munich and Germany boss Hansi Flick as coach on Wednesday on a deal which runs until June 2026, after sacking Xavi Hernandez last week.

FC Barcelona and Hansi Flick reached an agreement for the German to become the men’s first team football coach until June 30, 2026.

The new coach signed a contract at the club’s offices, accompanied by FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta.

Flick, who led German giants Bayern to a historic sextuple of trophies in 2020, became the first coach ever to be sacked by the German national team in September 2023 after a string of bad results.

However, Barcelona believe they secured the services of a “champion coach.”

By bringing Hansi Flick as coach, FC Barcelona choses a man who is well-known for his teams’ high pressing, intense and daring style of play. This brought him great success at both club and international levels, winning nearly all there is to win in the world of football, according to the club statement.

The 59-year-old occasionally watched Barcelona matches this season from the presidential box and was linked with the job after Xavi said in January that he would depart at the end of a campaign in which they finished runners-up to Real Madrid in La Liga.

Barcelona and Xavi jointly decided that he would stay for next season in April, but then Laporta changed his mind and sacked the former midfield great last week.

Xavi warned his successor last week after winning his final match in charge against Sevilla in La Liga that it wouldn’t be easy at all—they would suffer and need patience because it is a really difficult job.

He added that the only thing that could save them is winning, whether they have been part of the club or not.

In addition to seeing Madrid win back the Spanish title, Barcelona were knocked out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals by Paris Saint-Germain.

Spanish media said that Laporta was enraged by Xavi’s comments earlier in May when he highlighted the economic difficulties Barca had when competing against Real and Europe’s other elite clubs.

With AFP