Barcelona hope to announce Ronald Koeman as their new coach after Quique Setién was sacked after just half a season in the job.
The decision to turn to the Dutchman was taken during a three-hour board meeting at the Camp Nou on Monday morning, although a final agreement is yet to be closed.
Setién meanwhile met with sporting director Eric Abidal in a city restaurant as the club looked to reach an agreement for his departure.
Koeman has a release clause that allows him to leave his post with the Netherlands national team for Barcelona. The club are optimistic they will be able to complete the signing and Koeman has made no secret of his ambition to take over at the Camp Nou, but he must decide if he wants to do so in unusual and far from ideal circumstances.
The former Everton manager had previously been approached by Barcelona in January but turned them down because he did not want to walk away from the Netherlands five months before Euro 2020. “Now is not the right time to think about Barcelona,” he said.
If he accepts now, he will almost certainly have to forfeit his chance to lead the national team into the rearranged Euros next summer.
