24/03/02: Valencia's unsettled Argentinian coach, Hector Cuper, is poised to take over at Barcelona, say Spanish press reports today.
The reports said Cuper's assistant, Juan Manuel Alfano, had reserved a hotel in the Austrian town of Kossen with a view to preparing the Catalan giants there for the 2001-2002 season.
Cuper used the same hotel when he was manager of Real Mallorca in 1998.
Barcelona coach Lorenzo Serra Ferrer is believed to be on the way out after a mediocre season by their standards, which has left the team fourth in the league and in the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup.
Cuper has made clear he will not be renewing his contract at Valencia because the fans do not appreciate him.
"What can I hope to achieve if I take the team to first place in their Champions League group and they still whistle at me?" he told one newspaper earlier this month.
Fans were furious at the departure of key players such as Claudio Lopez of Argentina who went to Lazio.
AFP