BARCELONA COACH Luis Enrique will take a year-long sabbatical after departing the Liga giants at the end of the season.
Luis Enrique is set to leave the club after three years, a reign in which he has won one Champions League title, as well as two league and cup doubles.
The 46-year-old’s decision to step away from football for a year follows in the footsteps of Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola, who took a season off after leaving Barca, before taking over at Bayern Munich.
Luis Enrique has been among the names linked with replacing Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, but he confirmed he will not be looking for another job until he has recharged his batteries.
“If I’m leaving Barcelona, my home, where I have a great relationship with the club and the players, it’s purely for tiredness,” he said ahead of Wednesday’s La Liga clash with Sevilla.
“I need to recover. I’m not thinking about other teams. It will be a year to recover, but now what’s left to do is to end the season with all our objectives achieved.”
Barcelona are second in the table, two points behind rivals Real Madrid, while they face Juventus in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, with the club yet to announce who will take over from Luis Enrique next season.
