With just four points from first-placed Atletico Madrid, Barcelona are preparing for the important meeting tomorrow (Sunday) against Real Sociedad in the 28th round of the Spanish league. The bunch of Ronald Coman Has started to stabilize in recent months, with alongside good results, the ability is also starting to mention better days of the club. In the meantime, the Catalans will try to say goodbye to Coutinho this summer.
“There is always room for improvement,” the Dutch coach began. “Our ability in recent games has been good, but we had to look that way due to the distance from the leader,” said Koeman.
The coach added about the team’s ambitions until the end of the season, when the possibility of a double is still alive and kicking: “I do not like to talk about it. It can change very quickly. Until recently we did not look good. We have to progress from game to game, we are four points from the summit “We have a very difficult time. We have a cup final against an excellent opponent. There is still a long way to go before we win titles.”
Koeman referred to Sociedad, who are in fifth place in the table and experienced an excellent season. “This is the third time we have played against them, they are a strong team, one of the strongest in the league. They are always attacking and pressing, going to be tough.” The Dutchman then spoke of Joan Laporta’s arrival back at Barcelona: “It’s good to have someone who is the face of the club. It gives us peace of mind to work, but in terms of the work itself nothing changes.”
Towards the end, Koeman was asked about Barcelona’s desire to see Borussia Dortmund’s ardent striker, Arling Holland on the team, but the Dutchman preferred not to speak directly to the huge Norwegian. “Out of respect, I will not talk about players who are not ours. We will talk more about a lot of players, but I need to focus on the upcoming games and the players I have. Next year is next year.”
Sergi Roberto, who recently returned to training, will not be included in the Catalans squad for the upcoming game. He will be joined by Gerard Pique, Anso Patti and Coutinho. The latter “starred” in Spanish media headlines in recent days, when the SS published a clause in the Brazilian’s transfer agreement from Liverpool to Barcelona that does not allow the Catalans to acquire players from Herds until the end of 2021. If they want to transfer a Manfield player to Camp Nou, Joan Laporta’s club -93 million euros more than the original transfer amount.
Regardless of Coutinho’s transfer clauses, there is growing speculation in Spain that Barcelona will do everything in their power to break up with the club as early as this summer. As you may recall, the Brazilian moved from Liverpool for 160 million euros, joined by additional clauses that forced the Catalans to pay additional high sums. Coutinho currently has a market capitalization of 40 million euros, and it does not appear that Barcelona will be able to get significantly higher sums on him.
