Barcelona clause in Koeman's contract confirmed by Netherlands chief

Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman has a clause in his contract allowing him to move to Barcelona, though Dutch football chiefs hope to persuade to him to stay until the 2022 World Cup.

Koeman made 264 appearances in six seasons at Camp Nou during his stellar playing career.

He won 10 major honours in that time, including scoring the winning goal against Sampdoria in the 1992 European Cup final at Wembley.

Shortly after retiring, the 56-year-old spent two years as Barca assistant to Louis van Gaal between 1998 and 2000, but has made no secret of his desire to return to the club as manager one day.

Koeman’s managerial career to date has taken in spells at the likes of Benfica, Valencia, PSV Eindhoven and Everton, before he signed a four-and-a-half year contract to become Netherlands coach in February 2018.

Prising Koeman away from such a long-term deal would prove prohibitively expensive for most sides.

He also said in the summer that now is “not the time” to consider leaving the Oranje, with the side on the brink of Euro 2020 qualification, their first major tournament since the 2014 World Cup.

However, director of football at the Dutch Football Association, Nico-Jan Hoogma, has confirmed the presence of a clause in Koeman’s contract that would allow him to move to Camp Nou should they make an approach.

That could, in theory, mean Barca could make a move for Koeman at anytime, though Hoogma is hopeful of persuading the former defender to see out his contract with the national team.

“I hope that we can work together for a very long time, because I think it is going very well,” he told Fox Sports.

“But Ronald has long indicated that he wants to be a Barcelona trainer someday. Let’s see what will happen. Success at Oranje will certainly help him, just like everyone else helps us. But again: I hope the trajectory continues up to and including the World Cup in Qatar.”

When asked whether there was a specific clause regarding Barcelona in Koeman’s contract, Hoogma added: “Agreements have been made about that. They have to pay for that.”