Madrid, Aug 19 Current Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman is set to be appointed as the new Barcelona head coach, thus taking the spot left vacant by Quique Setien, who was sacked earlier this week.
Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu confirmed on Tuesday night that Koeman will be named the club's next head coach.
"If there is no change then we will announce Koeman as our next coach and he will lead this team and these players forward with a different type of project, led by a coach who all Barca fans know," Bartomeu told Barca TV.
"We are betting on him because we know him very well, we know how he thinks and how his teams play, but also because of his experience and as he was in Johan's 'Dream Team' he knows Barca and how we understand football."
During his playing career, Koeman won four LaLiga titles in a row at Barcelona and scored the winning goal in the 1991/92 European Cup final securing the club's first-ever trophy in the competition. The defender played 350 matches for Barcelona from 1989 to 1995 and was part of Johan Cruyff's famous "Dream Team".
The club had announced Setien's sacking on Monday following last week's 2-8 Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich. On Tuesday, Barca then announced that sporting director Eric Abidal has agreed to terminate his contract with the club.
Setien had joined Barca as coach on January 13 this year. During his seven months in charge, the Cantabrian coached the first team in 25 matches: 19 in the league, three in the Champions League and three in the Copa del Rey. The breakdown of his results was 16 wins, four draws and five defeats.
( With inputs from IANS )