Hansi Flick is “really happy” for Barcelona to be his last job as a manager before retiring, although there is by no means a set date for him to walk away.
Flick turned 61 last month and has coached and managed for 30 years, having started out as a player-manager of little-known German club Victoria Bammental in 1996. Before that, he’d had a relatively short Bundesliga career that included a spell with Bayern Munich in the 1980s.
Flick rose to prominence as assistant manager of the Germany national team for eight years—culminating in winning the 2014 World Cup, then having sporting director spells with the German federation and former club Hoffenheim. He took an assistant’s position at Bayern in July 2019 and was promoted to manager—initially as an interim—just four months later.
Barcelona marked the first time Flick had worked outside Germany—aside from a few short months at Red Bell Salzburg in neighboring Austria in 2006—yet he delivered the club’s first-ever Spanish domestic treble in his debut year last season.
“Everyone knows I am really happy here. I need to speak with my family first, but we have enough time to discuss it,” Flick told reporters on Tuesday when asked about his future.
“It’s clear that I love to work here. But the most important thing for me is that I have a fantastic family and I am proud of that. I feel the support of everyone in Barcelona. But, this is football, and we know how this world works. [My family] have no thoughts of leaving for another club. This will be my last job, and I am really happy about that.”
When Will Hansi Flick Leave Barcelona?
Flick has a contract with Barça until the summer of 2027, which gives him another season after this one. Re-elected president Joan Laporta has already stated since winning the ballot and returning to office that he wants Flick to “work always with an extra year of contract ahead.”
In other words, Laporta will try to avoid the manager getting into the final year of his contract next season without an extension until at least 2028 in place.
“We will try to announce it as soon as possible,” Laporta confirmed to RAC1, which makes it clear just what the club is planning to do.
Flick Capable of Leaving Ultimate Barcelona Legacy
If Flick wants to end his working life in soccer on the ultimate high, that is entirely plausible.
Barcelona haven’t won the Champions League in 11 years and, having got to the semifinals last season, it feels within reach to be able to end that decade-plus drought.
Luis Enrique was the last Barcelona manager to deliver the European crown, doing so in 2014–15, while Pep Guardiola won it 2008–09 and again in 2010–11. Johan Cruyff, in 1991–92, is the only foreign manager to guide the club to continental glory, but it would be unprecedented for someone who never played for Barça and had no prior association with the club or city to achieve that.
Flick could be the first. If he has done that, there is nothing left for him to do.
Whether he can do it this season or next, or how long he’s willing to pursue it before calling time on his career, is another question.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Hansi Flick Reveals Plans for His ‘Last Job’ in Soccer.
