When Joan Laporta won the Barcelona presidential election a few months ago, it became clear that Ronald Koeman was not part of his long-term plans. The new president of the Catalans seems to have had the idea to once again revitalize Barcelona, at the highest peaks of European football. But now, Barcelona is facing a different reality.
Koeman is still the coach, and Laporta has hinted several times that he is very close to renewing his contract with another 1 year for the Dutchman. But at the same time, the media alludes to disagreement and resentment between the two. So what is really going on at the Catalan club?
The club's financial problems play a key role in better understanding the situation. Barcelona is officially at a very difficult point in terms of revenue, as the club faces debts that reach the alleged figure of 1.6 billion dollars. If Laporta wishes to terminate the cooperation with Koeman immediately, he must pay the costs of terminating the contract before its termination, unilaterally.
Meanwhile tensions escalated even more between Koeman and Laporta, when the latter asked the Dutchman 14 days to decide whether or not to continue working with him. This happened before the start of the season and Koeman's agent Rob Jansen commented ironically:
"Imagine for a second you were transposed into the karmic driven world of Earl. It gives me 2 weeks to find a better partner. If I do not find the right partner, we will get married anyway! ”
All this situation is hurting Barcelona, while the board is still learning that it is looking for alternatives to the club bench. Talks with Julian Nagelsmann have failed as the German preferred the Bayern Munich bench, while Belgium's Roberto Martinez is still an option.
