Conflicting reports emerge on return of club icon to Barcelona staff

Barcelona had a helping hand last summer, with manager Hansi Flick calling on the services of Thiago Alcantara to get his new regime at the Catalan giants underway. There is talk that the ex-Liverpool and Bayern Munich midfielder could be on his way back to Barcelona.

Thiago spent several weeks with Barcelona during their preseason last summer, with Flick valuing his insight into the inner workings of the club, his understanding of the German’s style, and his ability to communicate in English, Spanish and German. Due to tax reasons though, Thiago left the role once Barcelona’s La Liga campaign got underway, and returned to England. Youth coach Arnau Blanco was promoted for his own language skills to help Flick, Marcus Sorg and Toni Tapalovic, but has remained part of the coaching staff.

Roony Bardghji has surprised Hansi Flick and the players with his high level. They think he’s ready for the first team. @gbsans

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) July 18, 2025

Could Thiago return to Flick’s coaching staff?

According to ESPN, Thiago could be on his way back to Barcelona. They say that the Catalan side expect to reach an agreement with the 34-year-old in the coming weeks. Part of the delay is down to Barcelona needing to find space in their salary limit to add him to the coaching staff. He retains a strong relationship with Flick, and the German manager confirmed that they remain in contact last season.

Conflicting reports on Thiago

That said, hours after that initial report, MD have contradicted the idea. They say that Flick has not expressly asked for Thiago to return, and that the former La Masia product would prefer to work in a capacity that does not involve full involvement on a day to day basis, in particular avoiding some of the away trips with the team. Their information is that Barcelona are not considering bringing Thiago back into the coaching staff as a result, and they are happy with the setup as it is.