BARCELONA. Barcelona has decided who will replace Juan Carlos Navarro as head of basketball operations. According to Mundo Deportivo, the Blaugrana club has reached an agreement with Xevi Pujol, current technical director at Baskonia, to join their new sports structure for the upcoming season.
The departure of Xavi Pascual from the Barcelona bench, following payment of his buyout clause, has accelerated a major internal restructuring at the Palau. The primary target has been Juan Carlos Navarro, whose cycle as sports manager appears to be coming to an end after several seasons without titles and sporting decisions that have been heavily questioned within the club.
Pujol, just 36 years old, earned significant prestige during his time at BAXI Manresa, where he was instrumental in building a roster that reached the Basketball Champions League final and competed at the highest level in Liga Endesa. His ability to identify emerging talent was evident in signings like Sylvain Francisco and Chima Moneke, who later established themselves in European basketball's elite.
The Catalan executive joined Baskonia last summer and, despite winning the Copa del Rey in his first season in Vitoria, never fully settled within the Basque club's sports structure, which has been marked by internal differences in the front office.
Now, Barcelona wants to make Pujol one of the central pieces of its new sports project, although his exact role within the final organizational structure of the basketball section still needs to be defined.