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President Josep Maria Bartomeu confirms that the former azulgrana will retain talisman
Lionel Messi will be the “cornerstone” of Barcelona following the appointment of Ronald Koeman on Wednesday as a new coach, revealed President Josep Maria Bartomeu.
The 57-year-old Dutchman, who spent six years at the Camp Nou as a player, will leave the position of Dutch national team starter to upgrade to Quique Setien following his dismissal on Friday.
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One on the club’s official online website read: “FC Barcelona and Ronald Koeman have reached an agreement for the Dutchman to take over as first-team coach until 30 June 2022.”
Setien and director Eric Abidal were eliminated from La Liga club after the humiliating 8-2 champions league quarter-final loss to Bayern Munich.
Koeman will inherit a team that ended up in Real Madrid’s rival moment in La Liga with five issues separating the teams.
But after constant discussions that Messi was looking for a way out after spending his entire career at Barca, Bartomeu insisted that Koeman would build the team around the Argentine.
“Messi remains the most productive player in the world. He’s number one and he’s with us,” Bartomeu said.
“Every assignment we make, we do knowing that we have the player in the globalArray. And in the new assignment, Surely Koeman can count on Messi.
“Messi needs to finish his career at Barca, he has said it many times. I spoke to Koeman, who told me that Messi is the cornerstone of his project.”
Koeman is a hero in Barca after shining in Johan Cruyff’s Dream Team, which won four consecutive La Liga titles between 1991 and 1994.
He also scored the purpose of the victory in the 1992 European Cup final, the Catalan club’s first good fortune in Europe’s largest club competition.
He said education in Barcelona would be his “dream job”, and leaves his country’s selection after two and a half years at the pace of opportunity.
His formative career has combined and he arrives with the Catalans in crisis.
Setién was fired on Monday after the embarrassment that opposed Bayern, who forced Barca to finish the season without a trophy for the first time since 2007.
The sporting director Abidal was sacked on Tuesday, paying the value of Bayern’s victory and the internal dispute that took over a league season that saw them cede the name of La Liga to Real Madrid.
Abidal has been criticized for the dismissal of then-coach Ernesto Valverde in January.
The former left-back blamed the players for removing Valverde in an interview, prompting a reaction from Messi.
Bartomeu’s own position is also a risk according to reports from the June presidential elections postponed until 15 March.
Mauricio Pochettino also noted as a substitute for Setién, however, his past comments of rejection of Barca for his ties with Espanyol were counting against him.