Ronald Koeman has been appointed Barcelona manager on a two-year deal, the club announced on Wednesday. The 57-year-old Dutchman will take over from Quique Setien, who was sacked following Barca’s 2-8 defeat to Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
“FC Barcelona and Ronald Koeman have reached an agreement for the Dutchman to take over as first team coach until June 30, 2022,” the club said in a statement.
Koeman comes to Barcelona after coaching in the Premier League, LaLiga, the Dutch league, the Portuguese league and also on the international stage with the Netherlands.
In his six seasons as a Barca player, Koeman made 264 official appearances, scoring 88 goals, many of them from his trade mark free kicks on his way to becoming the highest scoring defender in the club’s history.
Koeman claimed 10 trophies in his time as a blaugrana: four LaLiga titles, a European Cup, a Copa del Rey, a European Super Cup and three Spanish Super Cups.
Koeman was one of the leaders of the ‘Dream Team’ under coach Johan Cruyff and after his six seasons with the blaugranes, he finished his career back in his native Holland playing for Feyenoord. After retirement in 1998, he returned to Barca as a member of the coaching staff before leaving for Vitesse in 1999 to begin his coaching career.
He began his coaching career at Barcelona as first team assistant coach and then as coach of Barca B in the 1998-99 season.
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