Friday, October 15, 2021 at 11:06 am• Mart Oude Nijeweeme • Last update: 11:09

Ronald Koeman has received support from Josep Maria Bartomeu. The former president of Barcelona brought the Dutch coach to the Catalan club in the summer of 2020. Koeman has been under fire for some time for disappointing results, although he recently received public support from President Joan Laporta and Vice-President Raphael Yuste. Bartomeu has now also spoken out about the situation at Barca.

“He lost Messi and came to the club at a very difficult time,” Bartomeu said of Koeman to Diario Sports. “He won the Copa del Rey, but unfortunately not the competition. The Champions League is a different story. It takes time to build a team without the best player in the world,” Bartomeu refers to the departure of Lionel Messi. Koeman also acknowledged earlier against ESPN struggling with the departure of his star player. “Of course we will have more trouble scoring goals. Now other players have to step up to take the next step. Now it’s more about the team than the individuals,” said Koeman.

Since Bartomeu’s departure, Barcelona has failed to impress from a sporting point of view, although the former chairman does not want to talk about a sporting legacy he has left behind. According to Bartomeu, the future looks bright with a large number of up-and-coming talents. “Disastrous legacy? We have won 22 titles in the last 10 years, we have the best women’s team in the world and look at all the Barça talents: Ansu Fati, Ronald Araújo, Riqui Puig, Óscar Mingueza, Pedri, Gavi, Nico González, Álex Collado: they are our legacy too.”

Barcelona’s financial problems forced the club to watch as Messi left for Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer last summer. “As chairman, I wanted Messi to not leave and I did everything I could to prevent that,” said Bartomeu. “It seemed like a bad decision to let him go. Playing without Leo means that many things have to change.” Finally, the former chairman defends the purchase of Antoine Griezmann, who was attracted to Barcelona under his rule. “If you get such a player for that amount, it will automatically pay off over the years. We then paid the clause in his contract and that was a market price.”