Guardiola Lined Up By Barca - Reports

[Bazza]

Josep Guardiola is set to take over from Frank Rijkaard as Barcelona coach this summer, according to media reports in Spain.

Guardiola, the former Barca captain and current coach of club's reserve team, has regularly been linked with the top job at the Nou Camp this season but it now appears as though the wheels have been set in motion for him take charge.

Spanish media have reported that Barcelona's delegate commission met on Monday evening where it was recommended that the 37-year-old Guardiola replace Rijkaard, who has found himself under under increasing pressure with the Catalan giants going a second successive season without a major trophy.

According to the reports, the recommendation of the delegate commission, which included club president Joan Laporta and technical secretary Txiki Begiristain, will be put before the rest of the club board on Thursday before being made official at the end of the season.

Aside from Guardiola, Getafe coach Michael Laudrup and former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho have both been linked with the Barcelona job as Rijkaard's five-year stint in the hotseat looks increasingly likely to end this summer.

Rijkaard, who has a contract until June 2009, has won two Primera Liga titles and the Champions League during his spell at the club but the most recent of those trophies came in 2006.