Fight Brewing Between Koeman And Laporta Already?

Written By Onyeka Daniel

It all seemed to be well and fine between coach and president few days ago as they both talked about how to move the club forward and the renewal of Koeman’s contract, which is set to expire in less a 12 months time but there appears to be a crack in the wall already.

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After it was reported that Barcelona president, Joan Laporta has set certain conditions for Koeman to meet before he can be offered a renewal by the club, Koeman has now come out to express his displeasure at the way it was leaked to the press supposedly by the president.

One of those reported conditions is that Riqui Puig and Samuel Umtiti need to be given more playing time, while the coach is expected to play a certain style of football and formation that is synonymous to the club and also win the La Liga title. This might be connected to the recent interview by Koeman where he praised Tuchel, the coach of Chelsea for playing a 3-5-2 formation and winning with it while still maintaining their attacking potency. With regards to the two players mentioned (Puig and Umtiti), Koeman is adamant that it’s him who makes decisions regarding the line-ups. “I am the one who has to decide who plays,” noted Koeman.

“Two weeks ago, we had talks about a new contract. Nothing from that conversation came out in the press until the president commented on it with certain journalists last week, while discussing the situation the club is going through, the finances and so on.

“The next day, the media said that Koeman could sign a new contract if he met three conditions. I thought that this can’t be the case. Things came out that annoyed me because they didn’t show support for the coach.” Koeman told Algemeen Dagblad.

Certain sections of the media have always maintained that the exit of Lionel Messi from the club was already a foregone conclusion in contrast to the claims by Laporta that his hands was forced by the La Liga and this latest move by the president could be another long-term move by him in order to ease Koeman out of the club without raising much eyebrows from the fan base.

Meanwhile…….

Sergio Aguero has warned other clubs not to write off the club this season especially in the Champions League. “Barcelona are Barcelona, so we have to fight for every title,” Aguero told reporters.

“We’re not favourites in the Champions League, but our opponents will have respect for us. Whenever I’ve faced Barcelona, even at their worst, we’ve always said that ‘it’s Barcelona’. Maybe people don’t expect much from us in the Champions League, but be careful.” the striker further stated.

The striker joined Barcelona on a free transfer from Manchester City but is yet to feature for the club as he is out injured but is expected to be back, maybe sooner than expected as he said his rehabilitation is going on well and he expects to be back in training with the squad by next week.

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