Ronald Koeman's future as the manager of Barcelona is still up in the air after holding crunch talks with club president Joan Laporta, reports from Spain have revealed. The pair met on Tuesday to decide on what the way forward will be with the latter having previously stated that this is the end of the road of the Dutch manager.
Despite winning the Copa Del Rey with Los Blaugrana, Koeman's first season has been widely considered as sub-par by fans of the club. At one instance, the forrmer Netherlands head coach had the opportunity to potentially snatch the league title this season but failed to capitalize on the shortcomings of rivals Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid. In the end, it was the former who eventually secured the title while the Catalans settled for third place.
This, coupled with Barcelona having their Champions League title hopes being dashed by Paris Saint-Germain in the Round of 16 as somewhat given President Laporta a compelling case to possibly look elsewhere for a new manager. The 58-year-old has, in the past, openly expressed his fondness of the idea of bringing Xavi Hernandez back to the Camp Nou as a manager after a successful spell managing Qatari side Al Sadd and the rumors are well underway once more with Koeman's future up in the air. Arsenal's Mikel Arteta, Ajax's Erik ten Hag and Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp are among the names that have been mentioned as prospective managers as well.
However, the appointment of either of the aforementioned would have to wait after Tuesday's meeting proved to be inconclusive. According to Spanish publication Marca, Koeman, President Laporta and director of football Mateu Alemany met at the Camp Nou offices. The Blaugrana manager was accompanied by his representative Rob Jansen who subsequently revealed that they had made significant headway in the talks despite the outcome still hanging in the balance. A new meeting involving both parties is said to have been scheduled for another day.
"The feeling is positive. It's even that good that Ronald might even stay longer (than when his contract ends in 2021/22). But we are not this far yet, more conversations will follow", Jansen told Telegraaf.
Meanwhile, Ronald Koeman is expected to reunite with Dutch international Memphis Depay with Barcelona set to secure the former Lyon skipper's service as a free agent. The 27-year-old finished the season with 21 goals from 38 appearances and could join Liverpool midfielder Gini Wijnaldum as the second Netherlands international to complete a switch to Cataluyna this summer.
