Barcelona join the race for Liverpool target Ruben Amorim
According to The Independent, Barcelona could beat Liverpool to the appointment of in-demand Sporting CP manager Ruben Amorim this upcoming summer.
The Spanish champions are one of several clubs looking for a new manager after Xavi Hernandez revealed his desire to step down at the end of the season.
The Spaniard, who led Barcelona to the La Liga title and the Spanish Super Cup last season, is under contract until 2025 but has decided to quit the La Liga giants by mutual consent this summer.
The Portuguese managerial prodigy is on the list for a possible successor to Jurgen Klopp, who will leave Liverpool at the conclusion of the season.
The Reds had chosen Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso as their key target. However, they had to deal with a significant blow when the Spaniard chose to stay at BayArena for at least one more season.
That is possible speculation of a tug-of-war between the two European heavyweights, but Barcelona are now rushing to give services to Amorim as per his desires before Liverpool makes a move.
Barcelona had hopes that Liverpool would be too fixated on Bayer Leverkusen manager Xabi Alonso to battle them for Amorim’s signature, but now that Alonso has ruled himself out of an exit, the race could be on.
However, Barca faces a significant hurdle in that Sporting would demand Amorim’s full €13million (£11.1 million) release clause. This means that the financially broke Barca is in a difficult position, as they would have to sell one of their star players to balance the books.
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Brighton’s Roberto De Zerbi and Inter Milan’s Simone Inzaghi are on the list after Ruben. De Zerbi had an opportunity to audition for the position last weekend when his Brighton team headed to Anfield to face Liverpool.
While they gave the Reds a good fight, the Italians were on the losing end of a 2-1 scoreline, but Jurgen Klopp took to the post-match conference to praise the rival. The Reds would surely struggle to fill Klopp’s shoes and it would be interesting to see who they would bring in to try.
