Published: October 4, 2021 8:07 pm
Last Updated: October 4, 2021 8:12 pm
A series of major claims surrounding the potential appointment of Ajax manager Erik ten Hag at FC Barcelona have surfaced online on Monday.
Suarez comes back to haunt Koeman
The subject of the bench at the Camp Nou has of course continued to dominate the headlines over the last 48 hours.
This comes with the Blaugrana having slipped to yet another altogether concerning defeat on Saturday evening.
Just days on from a 3-0 drubbing at the hands of Benfica in the Champions League, Ronald Koeman and co. made the trip to the Wanda Metropolitano, for a La Liga showdown with champions Atletico Madrid.
And, upon the final whistle sounding in the Spanish capital, Barca were only plunged further into despair.
The latest in a string of abject, lifeless performances ultimately saw the visitors put to the sword by two goals to nil, to slip to a lowly 9th in the La Liga table.
Thomas Lemar opened the game’s scoring early on, before a familiar face condemned Barca to a 2nd deserved loss in the space of three days:
Luis Suarez has his goal against his former team! 🔥
With that strike against Barcelona, Suarez has now scored against all 31 LaLiga teams he’s faced in his career 🙌 pic.twitter.com/RHsBkqOCyT
— Premier Sports (@PremierSportsTV) October 2, 2021
Ten Hag lined up?
In turn, with Barcelona’s hopes of mounting a genuine La Liga title challenge looking less and less realistic by the week, and the Catalan giants’ European endeavours having culminated in back-to-back 3-0 defeats, it should come as little surprise to hear that calls have begun to mount for Ronald Koeman to be dismissed with immediate effect.
The Blaugrana faithful have made no secret of their desire for the Dutchman to be moved on, with club legend Xavi Hernandez the favourite to replace him on the bench at the Camp Nou.
As outline above, though, over the last 24 hours, an altogether different name has been heavily pushed as a potential instillation in Catalunya.
CADIZ, SPAIN – SEPTEMBER 23: Ronald Koeman, head coach of FC Barcelona, looks on prior the spanish league, La Liga Santander, football match played between Cadiz CF and FC Barcelona at Nuevo Mirandilla stadium on September 23, 2021, in Cadiz, Spain. (Photo By Joaquin Corchero/Europa Press via Getty Images)
The tactician in question? Erik ten Hag.
Ten Hag, of course a fellow countryman of Koeman’s, is the current manager of Eredivisie heavyweights Ajax. The 51-year-old has long been lauded for his football stylings across the continent, with Ajax’s scintillating start to the new campaign having seemingly piqued attentions at Barcelona.
As per a report from Spanish outlet El Nacional, not only has ten Hag been lined up by Joan Laporta and co. as a possible successor to Koeman, but, in fact, an ‘agreement in principle’ already exists for the Dutchman to take up the reins at the Camp Nou.
Such a deal would see his arrival come to fruition in the summer of 2022, so as not to rock the boat at Ajax mid-season.
Not only that, but it is also claimed that ten Hag has already laid out a list of transfer targets to his potential future employers.
The one-time Utrecht boss is said to have his eye on all of Matthijs de Ligt and Donny van de Beek – both of whom lined out under his watch at Ajax – Dani Olmo, Ryan Gravenberch and, inevitably, Erling Haaland.
Real Madrid faithful send Eden Hazard message to Ancelotti after Espanyol defeat
Mike Phelan handed new Man United deal & what it means for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
