Ronald Koeman’s ruthless reign at Barcelona cull has begun with the Dutchman telling Luis Suarez, Arturo Vidal, Ivan Rakitic and Samuel Umtiti to find new clubs to roost in this summer.
Koeman is obviously desperate to add to his squad but is incapacitated until the Catalans make a string of sales and this only be expedited with the immediate scalping of some members of the squad in view of the financial despondency of the club, no thanks to the reported mismanagement under the helmsmanship of incumbent president Josep Maria Bartomeu and also in part due to the debilitating impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
With that in mind, Koeman’s been particularly remorseless in his opening exchanges with the squad with four players reportedly told in one day that their services are no longer required with immediate effect.
According to Mundo Deportivo on RAC1, new sheriff on the block, Ronald Koeman, finally got round to talking with the Uruguayan on Monday, and the phone call apparently lasted less than a minute with the Dutchman spelling out that Suarez had no future at the club.
Top of the list targeted is Luis Suzrez, the third top scorer in Barcelona’s history, and it appears that the Uruguayan’s prolific goal-scoring days at the Camp Nou are coming to a premature end and he could be available on a free transfer within just days as the new regime under the Dutchman were meeting with Suarez’s (pictured) lawyers yesterday to finalise an agreement to end his six-year spell at Barcelona.
Although the former Liverpool striker scored 21 goals in all competitions last season, the new Barca boss is intent on immediately ripping up Suarez’s £290,000-a-week contract, which still has a year still to run.
For someone who has been turning in par excellence performances consistently beside Lionel Messi over the years without fail, it definitely is a dodgy and disreputable way to usher him out into the cold, in a manner of speaking. Although the Barca imbroglio is an unholy mess that Koeman inherited and not caused by him in any way, it is the cold and ruthless manner in which Suarez’s termination was conducted with just an impersonal phone call lasting less than a minute. After all that the Uruguayan striker has contributed to the club being one of its most consistent performers since his signing from Liverpool in the summer of 2014 following the ace’s fallout from his World Cup antics for a fee of £75m?
Suarez has been a key player during his six years at the Camp Nou, with the talisman winning La Liga 4 times titles, the Copa del Rey 4 times and also the Champions League in 2014/15.
Whilst the last couple of seasons have been very difficult for pretty much every one of Barcelona’s big stars, bar Lionel Messi, Suarez has still managed to cement himself as one of the best strikers to play for the club.
Barcelona’s third-highest scorer has bagged 198 goals and chipped in with an impressive 109 assists in 283 appearances for the Blaugrana, with the star’s last goal for the La Liga powerhouses coming in the humiliating 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich.
The centre-forward has no intention of causing trouble for the Catalans, but is understandably none too happy with the cold shoulder treatment and the 1-minute phone call adding insult to injury. Club president Josep Maria Bartomeu has also apparently not been in touch with the player since the rumours that Suarez could be on his way out first leaked into the public domain.
A major part of Koeman’s task in rebuilding the side will be to drastically cut the wage bill, so it certainly comes as no surprise that a high-profile, high-earning figure like Suarez is first on the block. One doesn’t need to be a Harvard Business School alumni to sort out the financial quagmire the Barca club has inextricably created for themselves but again it’s the cold-hearted, ice-in-the-veins manner in which the purge has been conducted by the new Barca boss in his eagerness to prove his mettle as the shining knight charging to the rescue.
Bartomeu’s way of dealing with the dilemma at the Blaugrana, using Koeman as the pawn to be the executioner, is of course highly questionably but has come to be expected if the unflattering reports of his inefficient management and shady dealings at Board level hold water. Nonetheless, the Dutchman’s complicity in willingly being the hangman and stoking the furnace is totally unwarranted.
Messi’s ire with the club has been reported to be further incensed when news of his compadre’s impending removal first came out days ago, with Messi himself stating that Suarez’s removal is totally undeserved considering his sterling service record with the club. Now, with this latest exchange of fire with Koeman targeting Suarez as his first casualty, the Argentine talisman – affectionately most recently refered to as ‘Mr Barcelona’ by PSG boss, Thomas Tuchel – can only be expected to have his wrath raised a few notches.
Messi himself has already been reported to be unconvinced by Bartomeu’s decision to desperately appoint the 57-year-old Dutchman as manager replacing Quique Setien as the GOAT feels Koeman’s style doesn’t suit the club. Furthermore, being seen as Bartomeu’s henchman and accomplice in crime would not earn the new boss any brownie points.
Let’s keep our fingers crossed to see how Messi would react to this development.