Ex-Barcelona boss emerges as favorite to be succeed Tite as Brazil manager: Reports

Former Barcelona boss Luis Enrique has emerged as the favorite to become Brazil's manager, as per Spanish outlet SPORT.

Tite stepped down from the post after Brazil's quarter-final exit from the 2022 FIFA World Cup at the hands of Croatia. Enrique, who managed Spain in the tournament, saw his team eliminated in the round of 16 against Morocco. The two coaches have since been free agents.

Brazil's football federation (CBF) is set to appoint Tite's successor, and for the first time in 57 years, they could appoint a foreign coach as the manager of the Selecao.

Filip Nunez of Argentina (1965) was the last foreigner to hold this post. Among the candidates to be Brazil's next coach are Carlo Ancelotti, Jose Mourinho, Enrique, and Pep Guardiola.

It will be hard for Brazil to prise away Guardiola from Manchester City, where he holds the ambition of winning the UEFA Champions League. The Spaniard recently extended his stay at the Etihad until the summer of 2025.

Ancelotti, meanwhile, will not quit Real Madrid unless president Florentino Perez wants him to. Enrique, who won the treble with Barcelona in the 2014-15 campaign, has emerged as the favorite. He is supposedly well respected in the South American nation due to his time with Spain and Barcelona.

Moreover, the Spaniard's proclivity to develop youngsters into world-class players is something that Brazil's national team needs to produce a team for the next generation.

It remains to be seen if Enrique will take on the daunting task of managing the five-time FIFA World Cup winners.

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Former Barcelona boss Luis Enrique has already revealed his desire to coach at club level

Enrique's comments about wanting to return to club football will come as a retrospective blow to Brazil's hopes of landing him.

Speaking on Twitch with internet celebrity Ibai Llanos last month shortly after Spain's exit from the World Cup, he said (h/t the Hindu):

"I want to coach, I see myself wanting to take on a club and be able to develop with greater finesse and precision what I have not been able to do in the national side. (But) I will probably wait for next season."

Enrique started his coaching career with Barcelona B in 2008. He landed his first job as head coach of a senior team in 2011 when he was signed by AS Roma. After short stints with I Giallorossi and Celta Vigo, the Spaniard was hired by Barcelona in 2014. Three years later, he left the Blaugrana on the expiration of his contract.