The return of Koeman to FC Barcelona
After more than 30 years Ronald Koeman is back at FC Barcelona. In 1989 he was bought by the club for a record sum: Koeman was the most expensive player FC Barcelona had ever bought, after Diego Maradona. As part of the 'Dream Team', led by Johan Cruijff, he became inseparable from his free kicks and won 10 prizes at the club. Now Koeman is going to work as a trainer and leaves his position with the Dutch national team.
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Koeman was taken over from PSV for an amount of 6 million guilders, a record amount for the club at the time. The transfer did not come out of the blue: he had booked successes with FC Groningen and Ajax and had had an excellent year in 1988 after the victory of the European Cup I and the victory of the European title with the Dutch national team. Managing director Ger Lagendijk supervised the transition.
With the transition to FC Barcelona a long cherished wish is fulfilled for Koeman. He has never made a secret of the fact that he once wanted to return to the club where he played from 1989 to 1995 as head coach. Later he was Louis van Gaal's assistant there. Koeman won the Europe Cup I as a player with FC Barcelona in 1992. In the final at Wembley the defender made the only goal in the extension.
