Jonatan Giraldes, the coach of Champions League-winning Barcelona Femini, has informed the club that he intends to leave when his contract expires at the end of the season, a source has told ESPN.
Giraldes, 32, has now communicated his decision to give Barcelona time to come up with a contingency plan ahead of next season.
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Local media reports claim that Giraldes has received interest from several NRL teams, including an “astronomical offer”, and could move to the United States when his Barcelona deal expires next summer.
The source was unable to confirm the reports to ESPN. Geraldes is scheduled to speak to the media next Wednesday, when he will hold a press conference ahead of Barcelona’s Champions League match against Rosengard.
Giraldes replaced Luis Cortés as Barcelona coach, having previously been part of Cortés’ staff, in 2021 and has enjoyed great success during his two years in charge.
Barcelona have won La Liga F in each of the last two seasons, including winning all 30 of their league matches in 2021-22, and have also reached the last two Champions League finals.
They lost to Lyon in 2022, but came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat Wolfsburg 3-2 in this year’s final, winning the tournament for the second time in their history.
That success led to Giraldes being nominated for the 2023 FIFA Women’s Coach of the Year award earlier this week, alongside Chelsea’s Emma Hayes and England’s Sarina Wegman.
Giraldes’ decision is part of a wider period of change at Barcelona, with sporting director Markel Zubizarreta recently leaving to join the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) in the same position.
Zubizarreta has been replaced by Mark Vives, who has a lot of work to do with several players whose contracts will also expire next summer.
This list includes Alexia Putellas, the 2021 and 2022 Ballon d’Or winner, England international Lucy Bronze, Maby Leon, Mariona Caldente, Sandra Baños, Asisat Oshoala and Marta Torrejon.
