Ronald Koeman has said he is in talks to resign as coach of Holland to succeed Quique Setien as Barcelona coach, who on Tuesday continued with a restructuring effort through the dismissal of director Eric Abidal.
Koeman, who is respected by Barca enthusiasts for delivering his first European Cup, is expected to lead Barca’s rebuilding paintings after being beaten 8-2 against Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals.
The Dutchman, who has trained the Netherlands since 2018, told reporters at the national team’s headquarters on Tuesday that he was looking for Barca’s coach but had not yet reached an agreement.
“It is only final when my signature is on the document. So far, I can’t say anything, even if I wanted to,” Koeman said.
Koeman is fondly remembered at Barca for his role in Johan Cruyff’s successful team known as the “Dream Team” and for scoring the opposite goal of Sampdoria in the 1992 European Cup final.
The defence then assistant coach of the club before embarking on a turbulent career as head coach, conducting the Dutch groups Ajax Amsterdam, PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord, as well as the Premier League groups Southampton and Everton and Valencia of La Liga.
Subsequently, Barca terminated the contract of Abidal, another former popular player, who was surprised that the club had declared a day earlier that a restructuring of the team would be overseen through French.
Abidal’s dismissal came a day after Setien was fired after only seven months at the helm.
Abidal, a two-time Champions League champion as a blue player, had held the position for more than two years but was sacked after one of the club’s worst seasons in recent times, in which he also gave the league name to Real Madrid.
He was also the target of Lionel Messi’s complaint this year, who accused his former teammate of blaming the team for firing Ernesto Valverde as coach in January.
Abidal joined Barca as a player in 2007 and one of the club’s top popular players for enduring a war on cancer, which forced him to undergo a liver transplant in 2012.
“The club wants to publicly thank Eric Abidal for his professionalism, commitment, determination and the closeness and nature of his appointments with all facets of the Azulgrana family,” the club said in a statement. (Information through Richard Martin, additional information through Mark Gleeson; edited through Hugh Lawson)
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