Barcelona have appointed Ronald Koeman as club manager, taking over from Quique Setien who was sacked after a poor performance against Bayern Munich trashing.
The Dutchman has left his job with the Netherlands national team and has signed a two-year contract at the Camp Nou.
Here’s the club’s official statement:
“FC Barcelona and Ronald Koeman have reached an agreement for the Dutchman to take over as first team coach until 30 June 2022.”
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Koeman will be officially unveiled this evening at 6pm CET when he will get to hear from the new man in charge.
The 57-year-old is the latest change in a busy week for Barca. The club also announced on Wednesday that Ramon Planes is the club’s new technical director.
He won four La Liga titles and scored the winning goal in the 1992 European Cup final during his playing days at the Nou Camp, and was the preferred candidate of Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu.
After being confirmed as Barcelona’s fourth boss in the last three years, Koeman told the Dutch FA’s website: “Everyone knows that Barcelona is my dream club. It feels very special to me to be able to become a coach there.
“It was an honour to be the national coach of the Netherlands. Over the past two-and-a-half years, I have done everything I can to achieve success.
I look back with pride on what we have achieved together in that period. The Dutch national team has a bright future, I am convinced of that.”
The governing body’s director of professional football, Eric Gudde, said: “We regret Ronald’s decision but respect his choice.”
Speaking on Tuesday – before Koeman’s appointment was confirmed – Bartomeu told Barcelona’s website: “We already know how he thinks and his philosophy. We bet on him. He was the first one we called in January.
“It’s a dream for him. As he was in Johan’s ‘Dream Team’, he knows Barca and how we understand football.”
Setien was only appointed in January but left after overseeing Barca’s first season without a trophy since 2007/08.
Planes takes over from Eric Abidal who has followed Setien out of the exit door, while the club have also announced elections for March.
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