On Wednesday evening Luis Enrique confirmed he wouldn’t be staying with Barcelona beyond the end of the current season. At that point Everton fans will have been well aware Ronald Koeman would be linked to the soon to be vacant post.
Koeman isn’t the frontrunner but the Everton manager’s connections with Barcelona, and his success in the Premier League, make the link understandable and inevitable. The Dutchman has distanced himself from the job, and explained he’s looking long term at Everton, and that’s covered by Catalan newspaper Sport on Thursday.
However, they point out that Koeman also said anything can happen in football, so hasn’t closed the door on moving to Barcelona. Even without that, there would be a feeling in Barcelona that Koeman had to say what he did, especially given that he’s not Barca’s first choice, and if the club did approach him then things would be different.
A couple of days ago Mundo Deportivo claimed Koeman had already negotiated an €8m exit clause in his Everton contract, something agreed when he moved from Southampton last summer. On Thursday, Sport back that up and claim the exact same thing.
It would be odd if the clause does exist as stated. Mundo Deportivo think it represents a good deal for Everton, given it’d be a profit on what they paid Southampton, but that simply can’t be the case.
Losing a wanted manager is more detrimental to a Premier League club than a few million profit can compensate for.
