Ronald Koeman’s agent, Rob Jansen, has revealed he is confident the coach will remain at Barcelona for the next season.
Barcelona are currently pushing with their nose to the mill to go ahead with their plans for a massive summer rebuild at Camp Nou, a long-overdue one obviously, with new president Joan Laporta keen and bucking hard to make an impact in his first transfer window back in the driver’s seat at the club.
While most of the focus is on renovating a squad that is embarassingly lacking lacking in several areas, the focus is also on Koeman who, despite performing well overall, has shown a weakness in managing key big matches where winning isn’t an option.
The Dutchman has had something of a mixed-bag campaign in his first year at the Camp Nou after arriving last summer to replace Quique Setien.
It’s long been felt that Koeman is not Laporta’s preferred manager of choice, and numerous reports in the last few months had indicated the latter would be looking to make a change this summer.
However, the lack of suitable and available replacements may have worked in Koeman’s advantage, though, and reports over the last few days have stated he is talking with his Barcelona superiors about staying for the second year of his deal.
With that meeting concluded yesterday, speaking to ‘Què t’hi jugues’ on SER Catalunya, Koeman’s agent revealed his stance.
“I think he will stay at Barça,” he said.
“In my opinion, Koeman will continue at Barça. Certainly, yesterday’s meeting left us with a good feeling.”
Whether Koeman will actually remain in charge remains to be seen. According to Mundo Deportivo, his future ‘will remain unsolved’ until at least next week.
No decision has been made from that meeting yesterday, and the two parties will continue talking in the coming days.
Laporta wants time to make a decision, although, at this point, it seems Koeman’s camp are optimistic about their chances.