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FC Barcelona's hierarchy have complete confidence in the abilities of manager Ronald Koeman, according to Spanish outlet Sport (via Sports Mole).
The Dutchman was under intense scrutiny following Barcelona's disappointing end to the previous season. The Blaugrana finished third in La Liga and exited the Champions League in the Round of 16 stage. However, they did win their 31st Copa del Rey title.
Despite an up-and-down season, Ronald Koeman has full backing from the Barcelona board to lead the club through a difficult phase in their history. The Catalan giants are aware that this is going to be a tough season for the manager. This is especially because he will have to rebuild the entire squad after losing Lionel Messi to Paris Saint-Germain this summer.
According to the aforementioned source, Barcelona are prepared to play the long game with Ronald Koeman, and he could remain in the club's dugout until the end of the 2022-23 season.
The club hierarchy wants the 58-year-old to be in charge of the rebuilding process because he is willing to revamp the squad using La Masia graduates instead of big-money signings.
As things stand, Barcelona have made a decent start to their 2021-22 La Liga campaign, amassing seven points from their opening three games.
Barcelona managed to get their finances in check this summer
Amid some serious financial issues, Barcelona were in need of offloading some of their fringe players to balance the books.
The Catalan giants did manage to accomplish that to a certain extent. They have allowed Antoine Griezmann to re-join Atletico Madrid on an initial loan deal with an option to make the move permanent next summer.
Miralem Pjanic was another player who was deemed surplus to requirements by manager Ronald Koeman. The 31-year-old Bosnian midfielder has left to join Turkish side Besiktas.
Apart from a few loan deals, Barcelona have also managed to offload Emerson Royal to Tottenham Hotspur for €25 million. They also sold Ilaix Moriba to RB Leipzig for €16 million.
Additionally, long-serving players like Gerard Pique, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba decided to take a wage cut to allow Barcelona to register new signings. These signings include Eric Garcia, Sergio Agüero and Memphis Depay.
Also Read: David James' column - Ranking the 5 greatest full-backs of all time
