Koeman and Pellegrini play down Barcelona talk

Southampton manager Ronald
Koeman and Manchester City
boss Manuel Pellegrini have
both played down the possibility
of moving to Barcelona.
The future of current Barca
coach Luis Enrique has been called into question in recent
days amid a fallout with star player Lionel Messi and the
announcement that the club will hold presidential elections
at the end of the season.
Koeman, a former Barca player, admitted on Friday that he
retained an interest in coaching the club he represented
between 1989 and 1995 but insists that he will respect the
three-year contract that he signed at Southampton in July.
Asked by reporters if he could see himself one day taking
charge of Barcelona, the Dutchman replied: "Yes, but I had
that some times where it never happened and now I am
very happy to be here in Southampton and that's the most
important [thing].
"I started with a contract in Southampton and I like to be
respectful to my contract and to the people."
Commenting on the apparent turbulence at Camp Nou,
Koeman added: "Teams like Barcelona, if they lose games
there's always a lot of critics, rumours, speculation.
"I know because my whole life I am linked to Barcelona but
it's not the time to talk about that because I think it's not
respectful to Southampton and it's not respectful the
people of Barcelona."
City manager Pellegrini, who has previously coached Real
Madrid, also underlined his commitment to his current club
in a press conference on Friday, stating that he was "very
happy" at the Etihad Stadium.
"I have a contract for this year and next year," said the
Chilean.
Courtesy: www.goal.com
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