Barcelona are set to sack their coach Ernesto Valverde and appoint Quique Setien as his replacement, according to a club source.
The decision to remove Valverde was taken during a board meeting that lasted more than four hours at Camp Nou on Monday afternoon.
An official statement was expected on Monday night, with a press conference to follow on Tuesday.
Barca are top of La Liga but have won only one of their last five matches. Valverde will be the first coach the club has sacked mid-season since Louis van Gaal in 2003.
Setien’s appointment is expected to be confirmed once the details of his contract are finalised. Valverde also had six months left on his deal and a compensation package needs to be agreed.
If all goes to plan, Setien’s first game in charge will be at home to Granada on Sunday. Barcelona play Napoli in the last 16 of the Champions League next month and Real Madrid in the league at the start of March.
He will also have to do without Luis Suarez, who will be missing for the next four months after having surgery on his right knee.
Setien has made no secret of his admiration for the stylistic traditions of Barca, with the 61-year-old also renowned for favouring an exciting, attacking mode of football.
A former player of Atletico Madrid and Racing Santander, he was circled as a potential coach of the Catalans during a particularly successful period in charge of Real Betis.
Setien led Betis to a sixth-place finish in 2018 and qualification for the Europa League but, despite overseeing a thrilling 4-3 victory at Camp Nou early the following season, results tailed off.
Betis finished 10th and the club and coach parted ways in the summer.
Doubts had surrounded Valverde for several months and were underpinned by two disastrous exits from the Champions League. Barcelona’s shocking collapse against Roma in 2018 was followed by a similar capitulation against Liverpool last year.
Familiar fragility had been evident this season and a 3-2 defeat to Atletico Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup on Thursday, in which Barcelona conceded two late goals, prompted the board to act.
Valverde arrived two hours early for his last training session with the squad at Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper on Monday morning before meeting with Bartomeu.
Bartomeu then drove to Camp Nou, where he held a board meeting with several club officials including chief executive Oscar Grau, technical secretary Javier Bordas, vice president Jordi Cardoner and sporting director Eric Abidal.
