Barcelona have reached an agreement for Gerardo ’Tata’ Martino to become their new coach.
The 50-year-old Argentinian, who led Newell's Old Boys to the Argentinian Clausura title last season but recently severed ties with the club, has agreed a two-year contract at Barca where he will replace Tito Vilanova.
Barca announced on Friday night that the 44-year-old Vilanova was stepping down as he continues his battle with cancer.
"FC Barcelona have reached an agreement to appoint Gerardo Martino as the new coach of the football team for the next two seasons . This agreement is pending the drafting and signing of the contract," a statement on fcbarcelona.cat read.
“In the coming hours [a programme will be planned for] his arrival in Barcelona, signing the contract and the subsequent presentation.”
A host of coaches were linked to the vacant position with the Spanish champions, including Luis Enrique, Andre Villas-Boas, Marcelo Bielsa, Michael Laudrup and Guus Hiddink, who yesterday resigned as coach of Anzhi Makhachkala.
However, Martino emerged as the favourite over the weekend and the former Argentina midfielder was today confirmed as Barca’s new boss.
Martino had been in charge of Newell’s in his native Rosario for the last two seasons, having previously also represented the club in three different spells as a player. He also played for Spanish side Tenerife as well as Lanus in his homeland, Barcelona SC in Ecuador and O’Higgins in Chile.
Prior to taking over at Newell’s, Martino spent four years as coach of Paraguay, from 2007 to 2011.
He led them to the quarter-final of the 2010 World Cup — the nation's best-ever performance in the competition — before losing 1-0 to eventual champions Spain.
The following year, Martino guided Paraguay to their first Copa America final since 1979 but were beaten 3-0 by Uruguay. He stepped down from his post later that month.
