Not Xavi, Lionel Messi Picks A 'Weird' Replacement For Quique Setien As Barcelona's New Manager: Report

Lionel Messi reportedly wants FC Barcelona’s board members to replace the current club’s manager, Quique Setien with Italian Massimiliano Allegri.

Barcelona are currently in a mess in more than one way. They are suffering financially because of the coronavirus impact in addition to the already existing internal issues between the players and the board members.

Earlier this season, following Barcelona’s string of poor performances the board, sacked Ernesto Valverde and signed Setien as the club’s in charge. However, there have been reports saying that the players, especially Messi do not see the former Real Betis manager as a permanent solution in the long run. Even the fans have expressed Setien’s naïve personality is not strong enough to control the Barcelona board and a dressing room full of star players.

Before the current season was halted in the wake of the pandemic virus, Barcelona had regained its spot at the top of the La Liga table. If they end up losing the league, Setien could be well on his way out of Nou Camp.

Spanish media outlet Don Balon has reported that Messi is not a big fan of Setien and has made it clear that he wants a new manager for the 2020-21 season irrespective of what the outcome is at the end of the current campaign. While the likes of legendary Barcelona players Xavi Hernandez and Ronald Koeman have been linked to the Catalans for the manager’s role, Messi has made a strange pick in former Juventus boss Allegri.

Allegri has been without a manager’s job since he left Allianz Stadium at the end of the 2018-19 season. Messi’s choice is set to confuse a lot of people including the Barcelona fans, pundits and players as Allegri is known to be a defensive manager, while the Blaugrana has always been an attacking side who controls a lot of the ball. Moreover, Allegri has never managed outside Serie A, where his defensive mindset was pretty evident in his teams such as AC Milan and then Juventus.

Barcelona’s struggles are to do with the players underperforming than the arrival of a new manager. A clueless board does not help their cause either.

It has also been reported that La Liga is set to resume individual training on May 4 but there is still no update on the league’s resumption date.