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BARCELONA. – Barcelona on Monday appointed their former captain and outgoing Celta Vigo manager Luis Enrique as their new coach to replace Gerardo Martino after a disappointing trophyless season, the Spanish soccer giants said.
This came after the club confirmed that Lionel Messi has signed a new contract at the La Liga runners-up that will reportedly make him the best-paid player in the world.
Although no financial details were revealed, the Argentine is reported to be earning €20million a year in a deal that ties him to the club until June 2018.
“I am happy to continue at my home like I have always said,” Messi said on his twitter account.
“The people of Barcelona are those that decide what do with my future and my choice is always to continue as long as I feel the support from them. If I didn’t then I would look for a solution because I always want the best for this club.”
Enrique (44) scored 109 goals in 300 appearances for the Catalan team in eight years after joining from rivals Real Madrid in 1996, and also had great success in three seasons as Barca B coach.
Now Barca’s board is betting on him bringing the 2012-2013 title holders back to glory after they ended this season without a major trophy for the first time in six years, forcing Martino to quit after just one season in charge.
As part of the overhaul, Barcelona also confirmed on Monday that 22-year-old German international Marc-Andre Ter Stegen will join them from Borussia Monchengladbach next season, replacing Spain’s Victor Valdes as first-choice goalkeeper.
Enrique will sign a two-year deal as new first team coach and be officially presented today, the club said in a statement on Monday evening.
His pedigree as an old Barcelona hero raised excitement after the disappointment over Martino, who was hired just two weeks before the latest campaign began following the late Tito Vilanova’s sudden resignation due to cancer.
As a player, Enrique “soon became a firm favourite with the fans for his competitive attitude. In addition, his versatility, knack of scoring big goals and technical ability made him a key member of the team”, Barcelona said in its statement. In his first three seasons he won two league titles, two Spanish cups, a European Cup Winners Cup and a European Super Cup.
Enrique succeeded Pep Guardiola as Barca B coach in 2008 and led them back to the second tier of Spanish football for the first time in 11 years in his second season, with a record-breaking points haul.-AFP.
Online Reporter