Ronald Koeman has won four La Liga titles for Barcelona as a player. (Source: Reuters)Ronald Koeman, the current Netherlands head coach, is set to be appointed as the new Barcelona head coach next week, replacing the out-of-favour Quique Setien at the helm of the club.
According to The Guardian, the 57-year-old former Barcelona player will leave his current role before the start of the new season.
Ronald Koeman has been choosen as new Barcelona manager. He’s going to leave Holland National team to join Barça – official statement on this week. Here we go! 🤝🔵🔴 #FCB #Barcelona #Koeman
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 17, 2020
Barcelona finished the 2019/20 La Liga campaign on second-place, five points behind champions Real Madrid. The prestigious Catalan club lost to Athletic Bilbao at the quarter-final stage in the Copa del Rey too.
Then, last Friday, Setien’s days got numbered after Barcelona ended the season trophyless as they got knocked out of the UEFA Champions League courtesy of a humiliating 8-2 defeat against Bayern Munich in the quarterfinal stage.
As per reports, former Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino was the original preference for Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu.
During his playing career, Koeman won four La Liga titles in a row at Barcelona and scored the winning goal in the 1991/92 European Cup final securing the club’s first-ever trophy in the competition.
📊 | Ronald Koeman career at Barcelona:
Seasons at the club: 1989-95
Games played: 350
Goals scored: 106
Titles won: 12 pic.twitter.com/wygULTGYIF— BarçaTimes (@BarcaTimes) August 17, 2020
The Dutchman played 350 matches at Camp Nou as a defender from 1989 to 1995 and was a member of Johan Cruyff’s famous “Dream Team”.
Koeman has been plying his trade as a manager for 20 years and he has managed clubs like Ajax, PSV, Valencia, Everton, Southampton, and Benfica.