Argentina national team alert: Barcelona seeks to add Javier Mascherano as coach of La Masia

During the last few months Javier Mascherano came to the structure of the Argentine national team to complete the coaching project. At the helm of the U20 since the end of 2021, in the last few hours a warning light went on at the Ezeiza training ground following the news that broke in Barcelona: Jefecito is pleased by the leadership to join La Masia.

The 37-year-old technical director is a “figure who creates a lot of consensus” in the leadership and is contemplated to hold a position in some subsidiary of the institution. “The Argentine has a good relationship with Xavi Hernández and many of the players with whom he shared one of the most successful dressing rooms in Barça's history. He has everything to be a reference coach in the future and, sooner or later, he will end up coming. Last year we talked about Rafa Márquez, but the reality is that Mascherano generates more consensus than the Mexican one,” said journalist Lluís Miguelsanz in the Catalan newspaper Sport.

The information mentions that the surname of the Argentine will be in the debate of the directive during the next European summer and will be evaluated “if there are any interesting vacancies” to offer him. It would be strange if Jefecito leaves the U20, considering that he took command in December 2021 and still had no official activity beyond the fact that he faced his first friendly against the United States weeks ago.

However, it should be noted that President Joan Laporta surrounds himself with “prestigious” former Blaugrana footballers so that they can share the experiences they had in the club with the youngest ones but also to “impregnate the model” of play. It is precisely in this context that Mascherano added to his coaching staff Oscar Hernández, a Catalan professional he met precisely at Barcelona: “He spent 10 years working in youth football in Barcelona and implemented the methodology of grassroots football”, he once defined it.

Blaugrana found a path of growth since Xavi Hernández took over the professional squad, but the leadership knows that the process has to be integral throughout the football structure. Currently, other personalities such as Jordi Cruyff (technical secretary), Alexanco (director of youth football) and Sergi Barjuán (acting after Ronald Koeman's departure and current manager of the subsidiary) are also working.

Barjuán is precisely one of the names that is on the table, considering that Barcelona B is in the middle of the table of the third division of the country. Although the news rumors spoke of a possible departure weeks ago, he managed to improve the level of the team in the last half and has the support of the president. However, from Sport they warn that “many things will be reviewed” when the season ends. Will Masche be offered that role?

Regardless of the position, Laporta wants to continue adding former football players of the club who know the culture: “One of the names that you want to address, now or in a year, is that of Javier Mascherano”, they insisted from the middle. It is also an option to expect the historic central midfielder to gain experience in the U20, considering that after his professional retirement with the Estudiantes de La Plata shirt he had first the main role in the Department of Methodology and Development and then emigrated to the U20.

It should be noted that the U20 World Cup was due to take place in 2021, but FIFA decided to suspend it due to the coronavirus pandemic that affected the entire planet. The competition will be held in Indonesia during 2023 but the South American qualifier for that event, which is scheduled in Colombia at the beginning of next year, must be held beforehand. For now, Mascherano has in its orbit surnames such as Luka Romero (Lazio), Alejandro Garnacho (Manchester United), Valentín Carboni (Inter), Franco Carboni (Inter) or Tiago Geralnik (Villarreal), all players who were cited by Lionel Scaloni for the major recently.

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