Barcelona Set To Hire Ronald Koeman As Quique Setien Set To Be Sacked

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Barcelona Set To Hire Ronald Koeman As Quique Setien Set To Be Sacked

Ronald Koeman is the frontrunner to replace Quique Setien as Barcelona manager.

Setien is expected to be sacked in a meeting with technical director Eric Abidal within the next few days following the humiliating 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals.

Koeman – a Barcelona great as a player – is said to be the preferred choice of president Pep Bartomeu.

Barca would need to pay compensation to get Koeman out of his current role as Netherlands head coach.

Ex-Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino is also a strong candidate. He is the preferred choice of director Ramon Planes, with whom he worked at Espanyol.

However, the potential appointment of Pochettino has been met with opposition from ‘El Entorno’ – a term coined by Johan Cruyff in 1992 to describe the ‘environment’ of influential media and fans surrounding the team.

Pochettino is said to be interested in the job despite distancing himself in the past because of his legacy with Espanyol.

He recently did an interview with Spanish newspaper El Pais in which he tried to make amends for previous comments. He was a prominent player and then head coach at Espanyol.