Ronald Koeman Names Two Most Valuable Barcelona Players Aside From Lionel Messi

Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman is well aware that other than Lionel Messi, there are other players in his squad who also give their 100% on the pitch.

It has been a tough 2020-21 season for Barcelona, and the club’s president Joan Laporta assures that changes will be made this summer.

Things did not go as planned for the Catalans, but Koeman knows that the team did its best to win each and every game.

As expected, Koeman credited the leadership of Messi, but apart from that, the Barca boss was also pleased with the efforts of Pedri and Frenkie de Jong.

“There are three or four players who have put in a tremendous effort, I don’t mean the others haven’t, but Messi, Pedri and Frenkie [de Jong] have played the most minutes,” Koeman said in his final pre-game conference.

Koeman also addressed the ongoing talks of Messi’s looming departure. With Barcelona still unable to secure a new deal for the Argentine, all the coach can do is hope the best player in his team “stays.”

“Hopefully Leo [Messi] will continue for many more years,” Koeman admitted. “Again this season’s he shown he is unique. He’s scored 30 goals, everything he has given for the team has been fantastic.”

“For me as a person and as a professional I give him a 10 out of 10,” he continued. “Hopefully he stays, but if not we will need to bring in new players. We will have to look for more effectiveness from the team because we will miss 30 goals. Barca with Messi has a lot more future than Barca without Messi. ”

Barcelona finished off their La Liga campaign with 1-0 win over Eibar.

After the game, Koeman mentioned that Barca didn’t succeed in adding more reinforcements, emphasizing that the team only managed to sign one player this season.

“At the moment we arrived, the squad was done,” the manager explained. “The only signing we made was [Sergino] Dest, on the last day. For me, it is not a squad with the level we want for Barça. Many at the club think the same.”

“We are trying to improve the squad,” he added. “There are older players, with all due respect, who have shown that they have a level for this team. Others, younger, need to gain experience and will be better players. The squad is not complete and cannot be done in one season alone.”