Former Barcelona boss, 66, who managed Messi keen on job in England after visiting three Premier League clubs

QUIQUE SETIEN is keen to join the Premier League’s Spanish invasion.

Former Barcelona boss Setien, 66, made a whistle-stop tour of the Prem and Championship earlier this month with managers desperate for an audience.

Former Barca boss Quique Setien visited three different Prem clubs

Italian Enzo Maresca was so eager to host Setien at Chelsea that he prepared a video showing the coach which tactical tricks he had copied from him.

Fellow Spaniard Julen Lopetegui opened the doors at West Ham while Thomas Frank reached out after learning Setien would be at two Brentford games.

And the respect does not stop there.

Any clubs interested in speaking to the Spaniard will be blown away by his references.

Pep Guardiola, Carlo Ancelotti, Diego Simeone, Xavi and Luis Enrique are just a few.

Just over a year after leaving Villarreal, the former midfielder is ready for a new challenge. So, did his trip tempt him to try England?

Setien said: “Obviously. I have been out for a year and in Spain I didn’t have the feeling.

“We follow all the Premier League. In Spain you watch one or two teams on TV, in England we watch all of them.

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“We came here last year for seven days but this week has been  a huge surprise. I fell in love with people, the passion.

“The supporters are doing their best and the game wasn’t exciting.”

There are already five Spanish Prem bosses and, after the FA made Thomas Tuchel the new England chief having targeted Guardiola first, English football is wondering how other nations have mastered the development of coaches.

Setien believes English coaching may be on a similar course as in Spain… but it will take time.

He said: “The reference for the best, like Pep, is Johan Cruyff. He was the change of mentality.

“He changed the point of view of the sport in Spain, he changed the way to understand football.

“Something was different when Cruyff arrived, suddenly from that club several players go to the national team and it began the process.

“It’s like in England, with Pep arriving. It changes the mentality but this is a process that takes years.

“It means probably the next  generation of English coaches and the teaching and learning process for the English coaches has begun in the last years.”