Barcelona News Roundup: Defensive ace could return, club legend backed for a future role, and more: 1 December 2020
Barcelona bounced back in their last La Liga game, and will look to make it five wins in five Champions League games when they face Ferencvaros on Wednesday. As the Blaugrana prepare to face the Hungarian side, let’s take a look at the top stories involving Barcelona from 1st December 2020.
Former manager Quique Setien suing the club
Setien’s spell in charge of Barcelona was pretty uninspiring and ended with an ignominious defeat against eventual winners Bayern Munich. The Spaniard was sacked after just seven months in charge, but he claims he has not been compensated by Barcelona and was not properly relieved of his duties.
He was sacked back in August after Barcelona’s 8-2 defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich, and the decision eventually led to a mass transition with club stalwarts Luis Suarez and Ivan Rakitic leaving the club, that left Lionel Messi pretty unhappy.
Setien, who is yet to get back into management, told Radio MARCA's 'El Partidazo' show,
"Barcelona haven't compensated me or offered me anything. They didn't even call me to say that I'd been sacked.
"It's obvious that the club is going through a worrying moment, which is something you clearly notice when you arrive and something that directly impacts the sporting performance."
Xavi backed for the Barcelona job
Former Atletico Madrid midfielder Gabi has backed Barcelona legend Xavi for the Barcelona job, and feels the World Cup winner is ready for the Blaugrana.
Xavi moved to Qatari club Al Sadd in 2015, and decided to hang up his boots in 2019 to eventually manage the team.
His compatriot Gabi played alongside him and under him for Al Sadd, and feels Xavi will eventually manage Barcelona. Gabi told El Larguero (h/t Onefootball),
"He is ready for Barcelona and I am sure we will see him there soon too. "I don't know anything about it, but all the presidential candidates are talking about him.
"He is someone who is involved in football 24 hours a day."
Jean-Clair Todibo could return in January
Barcelona defender Jean-Clair Todibo’s season long loan spell at Benfica could be cut short in January as the Frenchman has struggled for playing time.
Todibo is currently recovering from an Achilles issue, but when fit, he will have to displace either one of Jan Vertonghen or Nicolas Otamendi from the starting lineup.
As per Portuguese website O Jogo, Benfica could let Todibo leave in January as they want to add Santos’ Lucas Verissimo to their squad.
Todibo spent the second half of the 2019-2020 season away from Barcelona on loan at Schalke, and after doing reasonably well, he was sent out on loan to Benfica at the start of this season.
The 20-year old, however, is yet to make a single appearance for the Portuguese side in what has been a forgettable loan spell.