BREAKING NEWS: Ronald Koeman is chosen as Barcelona’s new manager and will quit Holland to take over with an announcement set for this week as humiliated Quique Setien faces the sack
- Barcelona will announce Ronald Koeman as their new manager this week
- Current boss Quique Setien is on the verge of the sack after a 8-2 loss v Bayern
- Koeman, currently in charge of Holland, emerged as the favourite to take over
- He played for the club for six years and has favoured a move to the Nou Camp
Barcelona will appoint Holland boss Ronald Koeman as their new manager this week with Quique Setien set to be sacked after the club’s humiliating 8-2 loss to Bayern.
Former Everton boss Koeman emerged as the Catalan side’s key target in the wake of the Champions League quarter-final humbling, and the club plan to install him as the new man in the dugout this week after Setien’s departure has been confirmed.
Ex-Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino had also been touted as a possible candidate for the role despite vowing to never take over after managing rivals Espanyol, but now Koeman is set to take the side forward into a new era.
Ronald Koeman will become Barcelona’s new manager with an announcement due this week
Quique Setien is a dead man walking and his sacking by Barca is expected imminently
The Dutchman played for Barcelona for six years during a highly successful career that saw him win LaLiga four times, as well as the Copa Del Rey and European Cup.
He has made no secret of his desire to return to the team in a managerial capacity, confirming he had a clause in his contract with the Netherlands team that allowed him to move to Barca after Euro 2020.
After their hammering by the Bundesliga side on Friday night, one of the worst in the club’s history, Barca were left reeling, with Setien left as a dead man walking. His sacking by the club is inevitable and expected imminently.
Koeman has made no secret of his passion for Barcelona and desire to manage the club
Barcelona suffered one of their worst defeats in history against Bayern and were left reeling
The former Real Betis manager, was only appointed in January to replace Ernesto Valverde and ultimately took charge of just 25 games at Barcelona.
Setien, 61, struggled with the pressures of managing the Nou Camp club as they lost out in the LaLiga title race to Real Madrid and exited the Copa del Rey at the quarter-final stage to Athletic Bilbao.
It was the first season since 2007-08 that Barcelona failed to win any silverware.
And there was little chance he would be kept on in the wake of Friday night’s eight-goal hammering at the hands of Bayern in Lisbon as Barcelona’s Champions League hopes were shot to bits.
At full time on Friday night, Setien told reporters: ‘Right now we feel enormous frustration and all we can do is make conclusions and think about the future.
Setien was a surprise appointment last year but has struggled with the pressures of the club
‘Barca is a club that is so great that this will cause us a lot of damage and obviously some things will have to change.
‘The truth is this is a tremendously painful defeat.
‘Barcelona want to recover their identity. Right now, it’s too soon to think about whether I will stay or not. It doesn’t depend on me.
