Barcelona will appoint Holland boss Ronald Koeman as their new coach this week. Quique Setien is sacked after the humiliating 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich.
Former Everton boss Koeman became the Catalan side’s main target after being humiliated in the Champions League quarter-finals. The club plans to bring him into the dugout as a new man this week after Setien’s departure.
Ex-Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has also been touted as a possible candidate for the role despite promising never to take the lead after leading rivals Espanyol, but now Koeman will lead the squad into a new era.
Ronald Koeman will become Barcelona’s new manager with an announcement due this week
Quique Setien is a dead man and his Barca layoff is imminent
The Dutchman played for Barcelona for six years during a hugely successful career in which he won the La Liga four times, as well as the Copa Del Rey and the European Cup.
He played 350 times for the Spanish giants and continues to carry his affection for Barcelona with him everywhere. The 57-year-old even has a personalized BAR license plate on his black Bentley Continental to indicate his association with the club.
The 57-year-old also spent time as deputy managing director of Louis van Gaal between 1998 and 2000 – which only reinforced his desire to become the leading actor.
He made no secret of his hopes of returning to the team in a managerial capacity and confirmed that he had a clause in his contract with the Dutch association that allowed him to move to Barca after Euro 2020.
Koeman made no secret of his passion for Barcelona and his desire to run the club
He spent six years at the club and a clause in his Holland contract allows him to return to the club after the end of Euro 2020
A brief stint as deputy boss from 1998 to 2000 heightened Koeman’s desire to lead Barca
Although the competition has been delayed until 2021, Koeman said earlier this year brand that the terms of the deal were still in place.
‘The clause in my contract to go to Barcelona will apply after the European Championship.
“No date was mentioned, so it’s now after the European Championships in 2021. But I didn’t think about it for a second anyway.”
One of his first tasks after taking control of his beloved team will be to convince the talisman Lionel Messi to dedicate his future to the club.
The Argentine is frustrated with the hierarchy during a disappointing campaign and has been linked with moving to Italy and the Premier League.
His rise to one of the top jobs in football marks a spectacular turnaround for Koeman, who was struck off as Everton boss in 2017 and left the Toffees in the relegation zone after a string of poor results.
But he managed to rebuild himself after being named manager of his national team the following year. He picked up an underperforming team that didn’t qualify for Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup by securing qualification for Euro 2020.
Koeman’s career deteriorated at Everton when he was fired from the Toffees in 2017
But the Dutchman has grown in prominence after leading a struggling Holland to Euro 2020
With Barcelona in crisis, it is their club icon they turn to when seeking a similar rejuvenation after a miserable campaign.
After being hammered by the Bundesliga on Friday night, one of the worst in the club’s history, Barca stayed behind. Setien is a dead man now. His dismissal by the association is inevitable and is expected immediately.
The former Real Betis manager was appointed to replace Ernesto Valverde in January. The 61-year-old Setien struggled with pressure to run the Nou Camp club when he lost to Real Madrid in the La Liga title race and left the Copa del Rey in the quarter-finals against Athletic Bilbao.
It was the first season since 2007/08 that Barcelona couldn’t win cutlery.
Barcelona suffered one of the worst defeats in history against Bayern and stayed on their toes
One of his first assignments will be to win the talisman Lionel Messi, which has been linked to an exit
And there was little chance that he would continue after the eight-goal hammering on Friday night against Bayern in Lisbon, when the hopes of the Champions League in Barcelona were torn to pieces.
On Friday night, full-time, Setien told reporters, “At the moment we are very frustrated and can only draw conclusions and think about the future.
‘Barca are a club that are so great that it does us a lot of damage and obviously we have to change some things.
‘The truth is, this is an extremely painful defeat.
Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu was due to fire Setien on Monday morning
Setien was a surprise date last year but struggled with pressure from the club
‘Barcelona want to regain their identity. Right now it’s too early to think about whether I’ll stay or not. It doesn’t depend on me. We need to reflect with the situation and the importance of such a humiliating and painful defeat in mind.
“I’m obviously injured by such a bad defeat. The way it came about was extremely painful.
“I’m not worried about my future at the moment, but a defeat that is very painful for the club and the fans.” I know what a defeat of this caliber means. “
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