The departure of Pascual strips Barça bare

BarcelonaThe FC Barcelona basketball section experienced one of the most unusual episodes in its hundred-year history. The club confirmed that Xavi Pascual will activate, at the end of this season, the termination clause of the contract that bound them until 2028. The war for the narrative will have a new chapter this Thursday, as the coach will offer a press conference to explain his version.

After failing to change Pascual's plans, who intends to sign for Dubai Basketball, Joan Laporta has begun to rethink the FC Barcelona basketball section. The president of the blaugrana club wants to make structural changes that will affect the organization. After relocating Josep Cubells, the responsible director, the top culers executive plans to remove Joan Carles Navarro, general manager, from the section and reassign his right-hand man, Mario Fernández.

Navarro, who Josep Maria Bartomeu signed a ten-year contract with, still has one more year agreed, but Laporta plans to replace him with a leader who would join the entity from outside. The club is already working to bring in Xevi Pujol, whom Baskonia does not count on. The Catalan technical secretary, the architect of the best Manresa in history, had already had a blaugrana offer, but he rejected it because it was to occupy a minor role.

The culers president is also analyzing the role Jordi Trias should have. Laporta wants Zeljko Obradovic to be the new coach and has already contacted his entourage to assess his availability. If it is a proposal for a short period of time, both parties can reach an understanding. The culers team's budget, which has already closed the signings of Moses Wright, Josh Nebo, Olivier Nkamhoua, and Mike James, will grow from 28 to 37 million euros. Furthermore, the section will also make changes in its communication department.

After three consecutive appearances in the European Final Four with Sarunas Jasikevicius as coach, Barça has accumulated three consecutive seasons without qualifying for it. Neither Roger Grimau, nor Joan Peñarroya, nor Xavi Pascual have managed to reach the semifinals of a final phase in which the blaugrana team was a regular.

The Catalan team has accumulated seventeen appearances in the final four thanks to Aíto García Reneses (6), Xavi Pascual (5), Sarunas Jasikevicius (3), Svetislav Pesic (1), Bozidar Maljkovic (1), and Dusko Ivanovic (1), but it has been sixteen years since they last won the EuroLeague title. “We want Barça to be a regular in the final four. We need new benchmarks coming from the youth academy, and we will work hard on it, and we are creating the structure for the leap to be as quick and efficient as possible”, said Josep Cubells, who until a few months ago was the director responsible for the section. His wishes have not come true. The budget cuts and errors in project planning have pushed Barça away from the privileged European spots. The blaugrana team, which has suffered significant injuries, has ceased to be competitive, and the departure of Xavi Pascual, who will break his contract due to the few guarantees he is receiving from the offices, increases the doubts of a very concerned Culer fanbase. Neither Rafa Yuste, nor Enric Masip, nor Joan Laporta managed to convince the coach. Dubai Basketball does not confirm Pascual's signing and assures that they will only speak about signings when the season ends, but recalls that both Panathinaikos and Hapoel Tel Aviv are also interested in signing the Catalan coach.

Barça does not play again until this Friday, when they will visit MoraBanc Andorra, who are looking to avoid relegation.