Lionel Messi is key to his new boss' plans, and is going nowhere despite rumors of a $700 million Barcelona exit
- Lionel Messi will be key to the plans of new FC Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman, says the club's president, Josep Maria Bartomeu.
- Koeman was announced as the replacement for Quique Setien on Wednesday. Setien was sacked following the club's 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
- "Koeman will be Barca coach for next season," Bartomeu told Barca TV. "Koeman has said to us that Messi in the pillar of his project."
- Messi was rumored to have asked to leave the Camp Nou following the defeat to Bayern.
Lionel Messi will be key to the plans of new FC Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman, says the club's president, Josep Maria Bartomeu.
Koeman was announced as Barcelona's new coach on Wednesday, just two days after the club sacked Quique Setien following his side's devastating 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinals.
"Koeman will be Barca coach for next season," Bartomeu told Barca TV. "We know him and how he thinks and also his experience.
"He knows the Barca philosophy well and believes in the Barca style and for that reason he is one chosen."
On Messi, who was rumored to have asked to leave the Camp Nou following the defeat to Bayern, Bartomeu said: "Koeman has said to us that Messi in the pillar of his project.
"I have no doubt, despite the disappointment of Lisbon, that we will be excited by the new project. Messi is still the best player in the world and we have him with us."
Bartomeu added that while he has not spoken to the Argentine himself with regards to Koeman, he had chatted with the player's father, Jorge Messi.
"The pain is behind us," he said. "We have to be optimistic and we have to pick ourselves up, work hard and excite everyone. A cycle is coming to an end and another one starts but in the Messi era."
Koeman, 57, made 264 appearances and scored 88 goals as a player for Barcelona between 1989 and 1995, winning four La Liga titles and the European Cup as part of Johan Cruyff's "Dream Team."
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