Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu is planning a massive overhaul of the Catalan club’s squad after their defeat to Bayern Munich and is prepared to sell all but four players, according to reports in Spain.
Quique Setien’s side was embarrassed by a rampant and ruthless Bayern side on Friday night in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, losing 8-2 – their worst defeat in almost 80 years.
There have been calls for Bartomeu to resign after years of misjudged signings and poor squad building, but, according to Sport, the Barca president will not step down and is instead plotting a wave of changes.
First up, Bartomeu will relieve Setien of his duties imminently with former Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino the favourite to replace him, though the likes of Ronald Koeman and Max Allegri are also in the frame.
He also wants to totally refresh Barca’s ageing squad and has put every senior player in the team up for sale bar four: Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Clement Lenglet, Frankie De Jong and Lionel Messi