Ronald Koeman did not want to hide his extreme happiness after signing the contract that will link him to Barcelona for two seasons. Once he gave the forearm to President Josep Maria Bartomeu, sure he had found the totemic figure behind which he can take shelter, and already posing on what will be his bench at the Camp Nou, the Wembley hero headed to the Auditori 1899 And it was there, in the media pulpit, where he showed what awaits the locker room. And also a club dragged into decrepitude by its rulers. Firm. Without propaganda proclamations. Demanding work. Without referring to any of the men she intends to do without . Out of respect. But with an obsession, to retain Leo Messi.

Koeman and Bartomeu have a pending talk with the entity's franchise footballer. The club insist that the Argentine has one year left on his contract, with a prohibitive clause of 700 million euros. But the Dutch coach wants him by his side: "Messi is the best player in the world. And maybe you want him in your team, not the other way around. I don't know if I have to convince him. For my part, I would love to work with Messi. Because he wins games. If he gets the performance he has shown so far, I will be very happy if he wants to stay . We have to talk to him. But he has a contract and is a Barcelona player. I hope he will continue here for many years. "

Meanwhile, Koeman was able to have lunch this Wednesday with Bartomeu and the newly appointed technical secretary, Ramon Planes, to continue outlining the cleaning to be carried out . And despite the fact that the coach did not want to reveal the names that the purge will affect (Luis Suárez, Jordi Alba, Ivan Rakitic or Arturo Vidal are essential exits in the club, with the unknowns of Sergio Busquets and Gerard Piqué), he did show himself blunt as to what you want. And he issued some warnings to the booth.

"We will try to find the best for the club and the squad. But if decisions have to be made, we will make them." And Koeman went further when they asked him directly about the future of what had been the backbone of the squad: " A player is not finished with 31, 32 or even 33 years. There are also people with 20 who are missing hunger . It's the most important thing. Hunger. I just want to work with people who want to be here. Nothing more. And who doesn't like it, go to the club and say so . "

Koeman was harsh with the embarrassing image of Barcelona in the 8-2 game against Bayern in Lisbon: "It cannot be that there is such a wide result. It was a sad day. It is not the image we want." And he cried out: "What the team has to do is improve its intensity. From now on we are going to work. I want a strong team and we have to make changes . The image of the other day is not what we want. Not even the president, not me, not anyone ".

For this, he promised to give La Masia greater weight, in balance with more experienced footballers: " It is a moment to give young people possibilities when they deserve it . I am Dutch in that sense. But we will have to have a balance with also experienced footballers" .

And true to his overwhelming personality, Koeman launched a final warning before the upcoming electoral process and after the candidate Víctor Font insisted that his bet for the bench continues to be Xavi Hernández: "If I win, surely the next president will want that I continue as a coach . "

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  • Ronald Koeman
  • Sergio Busquets
  • Luis Suarez
  • Leo Messi
  • Arturo vidal
  • Jordi Alba
  • Ivan Rakitic
  • Gerard Piqué
  • First division

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