Joan Laporta is considering extending Ronald Koeman’s contract, Catalan newspaper reports macaw. The Barcelona president has apparently turned 180 degrees and is looking at possibilities to strengthen Koeman’s position within the dressing room. A new contract until mid-2024 is seriously one of the options, it sounds like.
Koeman’s authority within Barcelona has been affected, Laporta realizes. The coach was pushed towards the exit by the president at the end of May, but Koeman did not want to give up and stayed on. Laporta has now made peace with the Dutchman’s longer stay. The arrival of Jordi Cruijff as an adviser to the club is possible, according to macaw are seen as an attempt by Laporta to somewhat restore his bond with Koeman: Cruijff has a good relationship with Koeman.
Laporta and the Koeman camp seemed to be on a collision course a month and a half ago. The president of Barça told the coach that he will be looking for a replacement for two weeks. During that period, he was the first to sound out Pep Guardiola for a spectacular return to Barcelona. However, the current manager of Manchester City advised Laporta to move on with Koeman.
At the end of May, Laporta made public that Koeman would have been urgently hospitalized. That turned out to be an exaggeration: Koeman was only briefly in hospital for a check-up. Wasserman, the trainer’s management, declared war on Laporta in a tweet. “Imagine: I want to marry you, but I’m not sure. Give me two weeks to find a better partner… If I can’t find the right person, we’ll get married anyway!” Koeman’s situation at Barcelona.
Everything points to Lionel Messi staying at Barcelona. The Argentinian, who won the Copa América with his country on Sunday, has officially been out of Barca for 12 days, but Laporta is confident in the extension of his contract. “The renewal of Messi’s contract is making progress,” Laporta told the Spanish press on Monday. “We are very happy for him to have won the Copa América. It is fantastic to see the best player in the history of football win a title like this.”