Club president Sandro Rossell and Andoni Zubizarreta appeared in front of the media today to announce that Tito Vilanoca will leave the Catalan club with immediate effect
The tone was sombre as the club’s hierarchy delivered the news that Vilanova has suffered another relapse of his illness and has taken the decision to leave the club.
The players filed in, looking visibly upset by the news, many of them walking in with their heads bowed to the floor, in particular Lionel Messi. According to reports, they too only found out today about Vilanova’s relapse, and would have been caught by surprise along with the world’s media.
Having already taken leave last year to travel to New York for treatment, club president Sandro Rosell confirmed that after evaluating the results of routine medical checkups which Vilanova had undergone, it was confirmed that the option that needed to be taken at this juncture was a course of treatment which would be “incompatible with his role as manager of Barcelona”. Rosell also confirmed that the club’s sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta would present the new manager at the beginning of next week.
They also asked that the media would respect the privacy of Tito Vilanova, and think firstly of the people involved in this difficult moment for the club, which was described as a very tough blow to take.
There have been some reports in the media this week that there had been a falling out between himself and Guardiola which was made public, something which he wasn’t pleased about, but clearly the focus is on his health rather than anything else.
Some names that are currently being linked with the post are Michael Laudrup, Luis Enrique, Andre Vilas Boas and Frank de Boer.
