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Still in Lisbon, when the tough defeat against Bayern was still burning, the hardest in the history of Barcelona in the Champions League (2-8), the president of the Catalan entity warned: "We are going to make decisions." This morning an extraordinary meeting will be held at the Camp Nou. Most of the managers will be present, while those who are outside Barcelona will join online. There are three issues that will dominate the board: the dismissal of Setién, the possible arrival of Koeman to the Barça bench and the electoral calendar.
The first decision that the board will mark is the removal of Quique Setién. After 25 games (16 victories, four draws and five defeats), the Cantabrian coach will cease to be Barcelona's coach. “If Piqué asks for structural changes, he will have some reason. I've only been here six months, it's not up to me to continue or not, ”explained the coach, after the defeat in Lisbon against Bayern. Setién signed for Barcelona in January with a contract until June 2022. He is the second coach to dismiss the board this season after Valverde was discharged in January (with a contract until June 2020, with the option of one more season). Setién was Bartomeu's fourth coach as president. Before, Martino, Luis Enrique and Txingurri had already passed. It has also had four sports directors: Zubizarreta, Robert Fernández, Pep Segura and Abidal. A period in which Barcelona invested 1,177 million in transfers.
The main candidate to replace Setién is Ronald Koeman: the hero of Wembley 92, when the Catalans won their first European Cup. The coach has a current contract with the Netherlands team. In January, when the club fired Valverde, they had already spoken with the former Valencia manager. At the time, Koeman did not see it clear to leave the orange team, five months before the start of Euro 2020. Koeman has a clause in his contract that allows him to leave the Netherlands to land at the Camp Nou. The problem to solve are the conditions that the former Dream Team will take over the team and the duration of his contract, taking into account that Bartomeu's mandate ends in June 2021.
The electoral calendar is just another important issue to be resolved by the extraordinary meeting. The club's statutes allow elections to be held between March 15 and June 15, 2021. You can also advance the elections. The idea of the current board is not to present a continuation candidacy. The health crisis can make a massive election difficult and Bartomeu has to balance the results statements, which must be approved in the October assembly.
Messi's decision
Another of the club's unknowns is the future of its captain: Lionel Messi. The Argentine has been fed up with the Barça context for a long time, without references in the board or a team that allows him to aspire to win the Champions League. The Rosario wants a strong group to win titles. However, it will be difficult for Messi to leave the club before June 2021, when his contract expires. The 10 paralyzed the renewal of his new bond in July, but if he wants to leave the Camp Nou this summer he will have to find a club that pays the 700 million of his termination clause.