Netherlands national team head coach Ronald Koeman, who managed La Liga club Barcelona from 2020 to 2021, has criticized the leadership of the Blaugrana, particularly club president Joan Laporta.
Koeman told AS:
In recent years, Barca's problem has been that Messi is out, I'm out, Xavi is out. I think the best thing is to respect the legends of the club. This is much more important than fighting for a player. Barça should be at the top and in recent years they are not there to compete. I think it is because of the board because its members work in a way that is not good.
Under the guidance of the 61-year-old Dutch expert, Barcelona won the Copa del Rey in the 2020/2021 season. In the 2023/2024 season, the Catalans, managed by Xavi Hernandez, finished in second place in the La Liga standings, earning 85 points over 38 games.
On June 30, the press office of the Blaugrana published a post about the departure of two Portuguese players, defender Joao Cancelo and forward Joao Felix, who were on loan from Manchester City and Atletico Madrid, but later deleted the post.
Earlier, on June 10, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola told journalist Fabrizio Romano that Joao Cancelo would not return to Barcelona.