It only seemeda matter of time beforeBarcelona called it a time with Ronald Koeman. The club idol has failed to bring back glory days to Camp Nou and got fired following a disappointing start to the 2021-22 season, preceded by a sour campaign.
Joan Laporta made the decision after Los Cules lost on Wednesday to Rayo Vallecano, which was the final straw for a process that has seen a number of embarrassing defeats. Besides, Barca need to get back on track fast.
Sacking Koeman looked like the first measure the club needed to make in order to turn things around, but that wouldn’t be it. When the winter transfer window arrives, a player who was mainly supported bythe Dutchman would be shown the exit door.
Barcelona reportedly considering first winterdepartureafter Koeman’s sacking
It’s not been an easy summer transfer window for Barca due to their financial crisis, which preventedthem from making expensive signings. Instead, they had to look for cheaper options.
In a shocking transfer deadline day, which saw Antoine Griezmann returning to Atletico Madrid, everyone was left a bit surprised when Barcelona landed Luuk de Jong from Sevilla. The 31-year-old striker is on loan until the end of the season but his future at Camp Nou could be over sooner, according to Sport.
Besides being a cheap alternative, the reason why Barca signed him was Koeman’s interest in him, which no one else at the club seemed to share. And de Jong’s poor performances so far helped little to changetheir minds. The Spanish outlet reports Barcelona will try to offload him come January as he wouldn’t fit in Xavi Hernandez‘s plans either.
Barcaare currently ninth in La Liga standings with 15 points, nine shy of current leaders Real Sociedad, and third in Group E of the Champions League after a disastrous start suffering back-to-back 0-3 defeats to Bayern and Benfica, respectively.So, sacking Koeman mayhave just beenthe firstof manychanges the club will face.