Barcelona appoints Ronald Koeman as head coach
Aug 19, 2020
Barcelona [Spain], Aug 19 : Barcelona on Wednesday officially announced the appointment of Ronald Koeman as the club's new head coach.
Koeman will manage the club until June 30, 2022.
"FC Barcelona and Ronald Koeman have reached an agreement for the Dutchman to take over as the first-team coach until 30 June 2022," the club said in a statement.
Koeman replaced Quique Setien, who was sacked after the club's 8-2 loss against Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Earlier, Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu had said that Koeman would be the club's new head coach.
"If everything goes well, Koeman will be the Barcelona coach. We bet on Koeman because of his experience. He was in the Dream Team, he believes in our philosophy," Bartomeu had told Barca TV.
Koeman comes to FC Barcelona after coaching in the Premier League, La Liga, the Dutch league, the Portuguese league, and also on the international stage with the Netherlands.
Koeman began his coaching career at FC Barcelona as the first-team assistant coach and then as coach of Barca B in the 1998-99 season. The following season he made his way to Vitesse where stayed until 2001 when he moved on to Ajax Amsterdam where he won two league titles, a Dutch Cup and a Dutch Super Cup.
In 2005 he moved on to Portugal and Benfica where he won the Portuguese Super Cup. The former Barca player returned to Holland in 2006 when he took over at PSV Eindhoven, winning the Eredivisie title again in 2007.
After success with PSV, he returned to Spain and Valencia, winning the Copa del Rey. That was followed by a return to his native country once again where he won the 2009 Super Cup with AZ Alkmaar before coaching Feyenoord between 2011 and 2014.
Koeman headed for the Premier League for the 2014-15 season with Southampton before moving on to Everton in 2016 where he spent 18 months. In 2018 he took over as the Netherlands national team coach before making a move to Barcelona as a coach.
