BarcelonaDespite suffering two unbeaten defeats in four days (with no goals in favor and five against), Ronald Koeman will be Barça’s coach when the competition returns to the Camp Nou on 17 October. Although, on the return from the European defeat in Lisbon, President Laporta and part of his board of directors ruled his future on the bench, the Dutch coach survives at the start of the season marked by the ” is what it is “and the serious danger of being left out of the Champions League in the first half. The official door-to-door speech calls, from Saturday morning, time for Koeman, who will recover Pedri, Dembélé and Kun Agüero for the next part of the season. But the reality in the offices is very different. Faith in Koeman’s methods has not suddenly returned. On the contrary: the management of his relief is still underway. The truce staged before and after the defeat at Wanda serves to lower the tension, control the times of the situation and, importantly, to place the media focus on the management of Bartomeu’s directive, through the presentation of the due diligence, before the mid-month assembly.
While some internal voices advised Laporta to fire Koeman to soften the session with the delegates, the president has chosen to hold the decision also to be charged with reasons against the current coach, whom he does not trust, and to find a less turbulent time to execute the change. If the desired reaction does not arrive in the three matches at the Camp Nou with Valencia, Dinamo Kiev and Madrid, the Dutchman will have already exhausted the margin he asked for. Meanwhile, the club will have had three more weeks to mature a relief that, in the middle of the season and taking into account the economic framework, again places a name above all the candidates that the sports management has tried: Xavi Hernández Creus. Egarenc is the only coach with a contract in force who could replace Koeman in the middle of the campaign and in the conditions that are currently imposed. The situation is reminiscent of the one experienced by Barça at the end of May, when the dismissal of the current coach was stopped due to lack of resources and consensus. But, this time, Laporta is starting to see that he has no more exciting and sustainable options than the one from Vallès if he wants to give an impact to his sports project.
In fact, sources close to the president assure ARA that the president was “convinced” of the suitability of signing Xavi in the week of the draws with Granada (1-1) and Cádiz (0-0) in the League. Moreover, through third parties in those days there were contacts with the current coach of Al-Sadd to discuss his immediate incorporation into Barça. In parallel, Laporta received an offer from Andrea Pirlo, with a contract but no job at Juventus, and the Catalan sports management moved threads with Robert Martínez and Luis Enrique, who are playing for prestige these days in the final of the League of Nations with the national teams of Belgium and Spain, respectively. Balaguer, valued more for his experience than for his style manual, did not close the door to a possible change of scenery but has a contract until 2022 and a salary that almost triples what Barça can spend half a year to fill the Koeman vacancy. With the Asturian, the debate ends sooner: you can not escape his commitment to the roja unless the Federation dismisses him. And with Pirlo, the downside is both sporty and economical: there are doubts about his ability and he would not move from Turin now for less than three million euros.
Current contract with Qatar
The founded alternatives of Pirlo and Bob Martínez cooled Laporta’s intentions with Xavi. But the days, events and economic vicissitudes again discuss the pre-existing doubts of the leader regarding the Vallès, who silently awaits the final step to return home six years after embarking on the adventure in Qatar. Discarding the German route, Laporta’s favorite, and the short-term Ten Hag option, Xavi presents himself as the most likely solution in an emergency context because of the reception it would arouse and because it would adapt to Barça’s difficult financial context. . In fact, he would only have to disassociate himself from Al-Sadd and, as he would maintain the agreement with Qatar at least until the 2022 World Cup, he would agree to receive a salary adjusted to the regulations of the League and would accept the bench. without leading to the immediate disembarkation of professionals of their confidence to control medical services or grassroots football. Cheaper than the former midfielder would be to only entrust the first team to Albert Capellas, with a contract in Catalan training football.
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