Barcelona head-hunters set sights on Eriksson

The rumour mill surrounding the future of Sven Goran Eriksson was back in motion yesterday, with reports from Spain suggesting he has been informally approached to become the head coach at Barcelona in the summer.

It is the third time Eriksson has been linked to the job in recent months and comes just days before he announces the England squad for next week's friendly against Australia.

The speculation has been fuelled by the fact that Barcelona have only given Radomir Antic, who succeeded Louis van Gaal last week after the Dutchman was sacked, a contract that runs for six months. They have indicated that the Yugoslav is a stop-gap solution to their troubles. They have also made plain their interest in Eriksson, the kind of high-profile coach who may appease the Catalan fans.

In turn, the Swede has also made it known in the past that Barcelona is one of only three club jobs that would excite him – the others being Manchester United and Real Madrid. Added to this is the constant speculation over the frustration Eriksson feels about the England job and the resistance he meets from club managers.

This has not been helped over the last few days with the row between the Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier and the Football Association over the three-match ban imposed on Steven Gerrard.

Houllier pointedly said he would always put the interests of his club first after claiming that FA officials had suggested that Gerrard's ban could be deferred so that he would not miss the Australia game but would, as a consequence, be ineligible for the Worthington Cup final. The FA yesterday denied any such approach.

Eriksson believes he has been very accommodating to the clubs by cancelling three friendlies and continuing a policy of mass substitutions. However, he has also signalled his intent to insist that all selected players report for duty, injured or not. The test will come soon enough after his squad is announced on Saturday evening and a press conference to be given by Eriksson in Manchester on Sunday after the Manchester derby.

It is against such a backdrop – not helped by the departure of the FA chief executive Adam Crozier last year and revelations over Eriksson's private life – that any approach from Barcelona would gather momentum. The Spanish league club's managing director, Javier Perez Farguell, said: "We are very happy with our appointment of Antic, but a club like Barcelona must always look to the future and is open to other options. And we would always listen to a coach like Sven Goran Eriksson with his reputation, his experience and his curriculum vitae."

Eriksson is said to be well briefed on Barcelona's troubles – despite being unbeaten in the Champions' League they are having a disastrous season in La Liga – as his agent Athole Still has a good relationship with the club and has conducted transfer business with them in the past.

There have been intermittent interviews in the foreign press about how much the Swede misses the day-to-day involvement of club management – usually followed by statements reiterating his enthusiasm for the England job. However, it is unthinkable that Eriksson would leave his post if England appear likely to qualify for Euro 2004 – which will become apparent after the match against Turkey, who are five points clear at present, in Sunderland in April.

Eriksson's contract runs until the World Cup in 2006, although that now appears a long way away for a man who has become frustrated by the constraints of being the coach of a national team.