Barcelona manager Hansi Flick has avoided the idea of signing a long-term deal with the club, in the midst of a renewal. Yet he stated that he was happy with life in the club and worked in some of the best circumstances he experienced.
On Thursday the news was broken that a meeting had taken place earlier this week between the agent Pini Zahavi from Flick Pini Zahavi and Barcelona. During that meeting, Barcelona stated the intention to expand his contract until 2027. However, Flick was not handy about this issue.
“My answer will be quite long, but that is the subject. I appreciate and really enjoy what I have here with wonderful staff and fantastic experts and doctors. Very professional players who have the mentality to improve day after day, it is something unique in my professional career.
“I have a lot of energy and I am thinking of what I can do to improve, but now we are just starting the project. I am not a coach who thinks in the next three years; what I like, works for the best club in the world, and I really appreciate what we have here. The situation at the club is not easy, but we all do our best.”
“That is the situation now; I have a year left, and if things go well, another. That is my way of thinking. Step by step year after year. I don't think we're still done; in the end I don't know how much time we still have, but I want to finish my work on a good note here.
Flick previously explained in the press conference that Dani Olmo would not be suitable for that trip to Leganes, despite returning to training. Again at a more macro level, Flick was asked how he had succeeded in improving almost every player in the Barcelona team.
“I talked about it with the rest of my staff. The most important thing is that as a staff we speak the same language as the players, and I do not mean speaking in English or Spanish, but in terms of the idea, in terms of attacks. It's not easy, but nobody has ever questioned it; everyone followed us.”
He stopped the 33-year-old Basque defender Inigo Martinez as the perfect example.
“For example, Inigo. In the past he always defended a little deeper and to see how he was adapted and performs at an incredible level. He is one of the most important players here, in the dressing room, he is an absolute leader and gives everything for this club; he is a great example for the rest. What he has done is fantastic.”
Martinez arrived two summers ago on a free transfer from Athletic Club, and with the concerns of the salary limit that they hinder again last summer, it seemed that he could become a financially motivated sacrifice. However, since the start of the season, Martinez has delivered itself as the starter next to Pau Cubarsi.