Barcelona icon recommended Man United manager to the club after Koeman’s sacking

Barcelona icon Thierry Henry has admitted that he recommended the name of current Manchester United manager Thierry Henry to the Catalans after they sacked Ronald Koeman in 2021.

Henry spent three years at Barcelona between 2007 and 2010 and went on to win two La Liga titles and one UEFA Champions League trophy along with several other honours during his time in Catalonia.

The former French international has now revealed that he is a huge fan of Erik ten Hag and had recommended his name to Barcelona after the club had gotten rid of Koeman.

The Dutch tactician took over the reins of the club from Quique Setien in 2020 and led the team to the Copa del Rey triumph in his debut season as manager. But a poor start to 2021/22 campaign led to him being sacked.

At the time, Henry admitted that he recommended Ten Hag’s name to the club, as he said (h/t Mundo Deportivo): “I am a big fan of Ten Hag. I like him a lot. I recommended him to Barça when Koeman was sacked because he’s a genius.”

Ten Hag was still at AFC Ajax at that point of time. But Barcelona decided not to heed the advice of Henry and instead appointed his former teammate and club legend Xavi Hernandez as the manager of the team.

The Spaniard, who is celebrating his 43rd birthday today, has had his ups and downs but is taking the team in the right direction, having led them to the Spanish Super Cup triumph this season, while Barça are also leading the La Liga title race.

Meanwhile, Ten Hag took over at Manchester United at the start of the 2022/23 season and has done a good job so far. Xavi and Ten Hag will battle each other next month when Barcelona play Manchester United in the UEFA Europa League playoffs.