Spirit targeting FC Barcelona’s Jonatan Giráldez as coach

Washington has been without a coach since Mark Parsons was fired two days after the season finale in October.

“The head coach search has been ongoing for several months with multiple candidates,” the Spirit said in a statement Wednesday. “We look forward to sharing the news when the final candidate is confirmed.”

Giráldez’s situation is complicated because he remains on the job with Barcelona, which sits atop Spain’s Liga F with a 12-0-0 record and is among the favorites to reach the Champions League final May 25 in Bilbao, Spain.

Unless Giráldez and Barcelona decide to part ways in the coming months, the Spirit would have to wait until perhaps June before he arrives stateside. The NWSL draft is Jan. 12, and training camp will open no later than Jan. 29. The regular season schedule, featuring 26 matches for each of the league’s 14 teams, will commence March 16.

But the Spirit, in prioritizing long-term goals, seems willing to wait for him, much like the U.S. women’s national team with Emma Hayes, who was selected to lead the squad in November but will remain with Chelsea until May.

Mike Bristol, the Spirit’s director of player personnel and an assistant coach, would become the prime candidate to oversee the team on an interim basis. Mami Yamaguchi is another staff holdover from last season, but Angela Salem left for an assistant job with expansion Bay FC in Northern California.

The pursuit of Giráldez is consistent with Spirit owner Y. Michele Kang’s lofty ambitions in women’s soccer. She recently bought the London City Lionesses, a second-division English club, and is awaiting approval from French authorities about her takeover of global power Olympique Lyonnais.

Her NWSL property, however, has not fared well since she became majority owner shortly after the Spirit won the 2021 championship. Over two seasons, Washington has posted a 10-15-19 record and failed to qualify for the playoffs. Parsons was fired after one season and with a year left on his contract.

Giráldez worked in the youth academy for Spanish club RCD Espanyol before becoming a Barcelona assistant in 2019. He was appointed the head coach before the 2021-22 season.

Without much domestic competition, Barcelona has roared to four consecutive Liga F titles and a 70-1-1 record in the past 2½ seasons. The team lost to Olympique Lyonnais in the 2021-22 Champions League final before defeating Wolfsburg for the 2022-23 crown, its second continental trophy in three seasons.

At a Dec. 18 news conference announcing he would not return next season, Giráldez said: “The only thing I can say about my future is that it will not be in Europe. It is important not to compete against Barça.”

Note: The Spirit agreed to a contract extension with D.C. United to continue using Inova Performance Complex in Leesburg as its training headquarters, two people with knowledge of the deal said.

United opened the 30-acre facility in 2021. The Spirit also rents Audi Field for home matches.

Kang has spoken about building her own headquarters, but the new pact will keep the team in Leesburg for at least three years.