Laporta announces Koeman will stay on as Barça coach next season
President talks to press after board of directors meeting: "He is the trainer that we want".
Ronald Koeman will be Barça's coach next season. Joan Laporta has made the announcement after a meeting of the board of directors this Thursday. "After this period of reflection that we have taken with Ronald Koeman, we want to announce that we have agreed to give the current contract continuity. We are satisfied that the talks have borne fruit".
The president wanted to announce it in person after the meeting. A long and extensive meeting in which the agenda of the assembly has also been approved, which finally will be held on July 4 at the Camp Nou (in which the partners will be asked about the Super League). The admission of new members who are not related to a current club member has also been given the green light.
"Koeman is the coach we want"
But the big topic of the day has undoubtedly been that the board maintains its trust in the coach. "It has been approved unanimously," said Laporta, who has acknowledged that the debate on the coach has been extensive and has gone beyond the meeting on Thursday. "Koeman is the coach we want".
The president, in a press appearance that took three quarters of an hour, has apologised to Koeman because he did not gauge "the media impact of this process of reflection". Laporta has wanted to assure, in different answers, that if he had requested more time it was to "know the coach in depth". "The relationship was good, but not enough to know each other. Now we are in a very good position, he has understood that and he has let me know.
"Koeman has behaved impeccably".
Laporta, who has described Koeman's "explanations and behaviour" as "impeccable" has even left the door open to extending the coach's contract. "At the moment we have given continuity to the contract. Soon we will sit down to talk about this issue". He has also assured that a salary reduction has not been raised with Koeman as a condition for it to continue. "He already made an effort last season and this we have not foreseen."
"It is not true that Koeman's contract has not been settled because there is no money. We could have done it, and if the decision had been this I would not have intervened in this process of reflection," said Laporta on the extent to which economic difficulties have conditioned the decision. In any case, the president has claimed that "Koeman's figure has been reinforced" and believes the coach is "very motivated" for next season.
