Barcelona has hired Xevi Pujol as sports director for three seasons, succeeding Juan Carlos Navarro. The former Manresa and Baskonia executive is tasked with revitalizing the squad after the team failed to reach the EuroLeague playoffs and suffered a domestic finals loss to Valencia.
FC Barcelona have officially announced the arrival of their new sports director, who was hired after Juan Carlos Navarro assumed the role of club ambassador.
Xevi Pujol is taking over Barca’s sports section for the next three seasons.
The Spanish executive worked as a sports director at Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz last year, but they have managed to negotiate his departure.
The 36-year-old executive has built a strong reputation in Spanish basketball through his work at Baxi Manresa, where he helped assemble competitive squads that reached the Basketball Champions League final and also competed in the Liga Endesa playoffs and Copa del Rey. He is known for identifying talent early, including players such as Sylvain Francisco and Chima Moneke.
His success in Manresa led to a move to Baskonia, where he continued his rise in the EuroLeague environment. In his first season, the club won the Copa del Rey under head coach Paolo Galbiati.
However, his situation in Vitoria has not been fully stable, with reports of internal disagreements inside the club’s basketball structure.
Now Pujol is set to lead Barca after their disappointing EuroLeague campaign, where Barcelona finished 9th, forcing them into the play-in stage. They opened with a win over Crvena Zvezda, but were subsequently eliminated by AS Monaco, falling just short of a playoff berth.
Domestic results were similarly underwhelming, as a fifth-place regular-season finish in Liga ACB was followed by a loss to Valencia Basket in the finals.
Subscribe to BN+ and get access to exclusive content.
If you like our content, please click here and add us as your preferred source. It helps us a lot, and we are committed to delivering you the very latest basketball news.