da dobrowin： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
da fazobetai： Just recently, the sporting director of the Dutch Football Federation (KNVB), Nico-Jan Hoogma, spoke to Fox Sports (via ESPN) and revealed that Ronald Koeman has a clause in his contract that will allow him to potentially return to Barcelona in the near future.
What did he say?
Koeman is no stranger to Barcelona.
After all, the now 56-year-old head coach of the Netherlands arrived at Barcelona in 1989 and ended up playing a total of 252 games for the Catalan giants until he finally left the club in 1995 and moved to Feyenoord.
But if Hoogma’s words are any indication, Koeman actually has a “Barcelona clause” in his contract that states he can be released to become their coach after the conclusion of the 2020 European Championship, assuming the Catalans pay a fee to the Dutch team.
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If true, this could mean that he is already preparing for the moment Ernesto Valverde is shown the door.
Here’s what Hoogma said in full:
“I hope that we can work together for a very long time, because I think it is going very well. But Ronald has long indicated that he wants to be a Barcelona coach someday.”
Asked whether there was a specific Barcelona clause, Hoogma added:
“Agreements have been made about that. They have to pay for that.”
The clock is ticking
It’s safe to say that Ernesto Valverde is not really a beloved figure among the fans right now.
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Even though the Basque coach has already clinched two La Liga titles in his ongoing tenure at the Catalan capital, Champions League blunders seem to haunt him, seeing how his team blew 4-1 and 3-0 leads in the knockout stages of their last two campaigns against Roma and Liverpool respectively.
And it seems that Koeman is holding out hope for the possibility of Barcelona sacking their man and then knocking on his door.
After all, why would he insert a “Barcelona clause” in his contract if he wasn’t planning on coaching them in the near future?
We don’t know whether it’s going to come to that or not but in any case, it seems that there are already people waiting in line for Valverde’s sacking.
If the results don’t go Barcelona’s way this season, and this is probably with an emphasis on the Champions League trophy, we could be seeing a new Blaugrana boss come the end of the campaign.
Koeman may be hoping that it is him.