Koeman talks Messi and is confident about next season: We will be stronger than previous seasons | OneFootball

The cover of today’s edition of SPORT, shows a beaming Ronald Koeman as he is in the Netherlands, unveiling a statue of his father with his family in front of the FC Groningen stadium. While in his home country, the Dutchman spoke to the Spanish outlet about his expectations for next season.

The Barcelona head coach enjoyed a fairly successful transition season in charge of a broken club, but whether or not he would continue for another season became a subject of great debate before president Joan Laporta finally decided to trust him for at least another season.

The Dutchman revealed that he was relieved and even seemed pretty content with Barcelona’s business so far in the summer, even though Georginio Wijnaldum slipped through the cracks. Koeman is keen on making the squad competitive again for next season and is optimistic about his second year.

“We are working on building a competitive team, one that will be much stronger than previous seasons,” he began. Koeman had stated previously that the current Barcelona squad is not equipped enough to compete at the very highest level in the Champions League. Something he wants to rectify.

About Lionel Messi’s continuity he added: “Messi has to finish his career at Barcelona, so I hope we can make it official soon.”

Laporta recently revealed that the negotiations between the club and Messi have been heading in a very positive direction, and it may only be a matter of time before the Argentine’s contract renewal is announced officially.