On May 24, the players of Shenzhen Football Club returned to their base and kicked off the second phase of preparation for the Chinese Super League. However, the team's head coach, Jordi Cruyff, was absent, taking advantage of the break to fly to Spain in a hurry in order to negotiate with FC Barcelona for the position of sports director. For the time being, it seems that Cruyff Jr. has made up his mind to leave, while Carlos Granero, whom he brought with him, will fully take over the team's daily training and matches. In other words, Carlos may not just be the acting head coach of Shamrocks.
Just last week, the Spanish media had already revealed that Cruyff Jr. had arrived in Barcelona and met with club president Laporta. Laporta promised to hire Cruyff Jr. as Barcelona's sports director when he ran for the presidency, which has been Cruyff Jr.'s personal goal all along. In August last year, Cruyff Jr. signed a contract with SZF with a clear agreement that he could terminate his contract with SZF once he receives an offer from Barcelona, and that he would not even have to pay any compensation to SZF if it was for the position of sporting director.
Even before he left for Spain, Cruyff Jr. was ready to leave. For this reason, he did not hesitate to hire Carlos as his successor at his own expense. In the 5th round of Shenzhen's match against Shandong, Carlos appeared on the coaching bench of Shenzhen Football, who was then a member of Cruyff Jr.'s coaching team.
Speaking about the arrival of Carlos, Cruyff Jr. said that Carlos has been able to help him a lot in several aspects. Now, with the restart of the preparation activities, Cruyff failed to return, Carlos naturally took over the team's acting coaching whip. This means that before Cruyff Jr. returns to Shenzhen, SZFC's training and matches will be under the sole responsibility of Carlos, while Cruyff Jr.'s coaching team will directly assist Carlos.
