Guardiola set to quit Barca

Barcelona head coach Pep Guardiola is expected to announce he is quitting the club on Friday, according to Spanish media reports.

Guardiola is believed to have had a meeting with club president Sandro Rosell this week, during which the 41-year-old outlined his intention to resign.

The Spaniard apparently told club administrators he was mentally and physically drained after four years at Camp Nou.

It has been a difficult year for Guardiola and his side, considered by many as the greatest team of all time.

The defending champions bowed out of the Champions League semi-finals against Chelsea on Tuesday, and lost to arch rivals Real Madrid on Saturday, all but ending their La Liga title hopes.

In his first season at the club in 2008, Guardiola’s team won a La Liga, Copa del Rey and Champions League treble – he’s claimed 13 titles in all at the Nou Camp.

He is now expected to take a year-long break from football and it is thought he has ambitions to work in the English Premier League.

Barcelona are believed to have already identified Athletic Bilbao coach Marcelo Bielsa as his ideal successor, Goal.com understands.

The Argentine is out of contract in the summer and has the unanimous backing of the Barca board, as well as that of Guardiola, who considers Bielsa the best coach in the game today.

Indeed, it is thought that Guardiola may even be asked to attempt to persuade Bielsa to make the move.

Should the 56-year-old Bielsa reject the offer, Barcelona will then seek to appoint someone from within Guardiola’s inner circle, namely assistant Tito Vilanova, former B team boss Luis Enrique, who is currently in charge of Roma, or even ex-youth team coach Oscar Garcia.

Failing that, Barca could turn to former Villarreal coach Ernesto Valverde, or a foreign alternative, such as Germany’s Joachim Low.

However, the club’s directors do not believe it will come to that as they are confident of landing Bielsa, their prime candidate for the position.