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Ronald Koeman 'to rebuild Barcelona around Antoine Griezmann'

New Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman reportedly plans to build a new-look team around Antoine Griezmann following Lionel Messi's request to leave the club.

New Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman is reportedly planning to build his team around Antoine Griezmann.

The Dutch boss, who replaced Quique Setien in charge at Camp Nou earlier this month, has suffered a turbulent start to his reign, most notably with captain and talisman Lionel Messi handing in a transfer request on Tuesday.

Koeman had initially planned to make Messi the central figure of his new-look Barcelona, having already decided to offload a number of other ageing high-profile players such as Luis Suarez, Ivan Rakitic and Arturo Vidal.

However, L'Equipe reports that the former Everton, Southampton and Netherlands boss has told Griezmann that he will now focus the rebuild around him.

Griezmann joined Barcelona from Atletico Madrid in a €120m (£108m) deal last summer but endured an underwhelming debut campaign with the Catalan outfit as they surrendered their La Liga title and were knocked out early in both the Champions League and Copa del Rey.

The 29-year-old completed the full 90 minutes just 19 times across all competitions throughout the season, scoring 15 goals and creating four more in 48 appearances.

Koeman plans to use Griezmann in a similar free role to the one he excelled in with Atletico Madrid, though, and has even promised the France international his favoured number seven shirt - previously occupied by Philippe Coutinho.

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Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets pictured in July 2020
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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Real Madrid33266171224984
2GironaGirona33225669402971
3Barcelona32217464372770
4Atletico MadridAtletico33204962392364
5Athletic Bilbao331610753332058
6Real Sociedad331312846351151
7Real BetisBetis32121284038248
8Valencia32138113534147
9Getafe331013104145-443
10Villarreal32119125155-442
11Osasuna32116153746-939
12AlavesAlaves33108153138-738
13Sevilla32910134145-437
14Las PalmasLas Palmas33107163041-1137
15Rayo Vallecano32713122739-1234
16Mallorca32613132638-1231
17Celta Vigo33710163750-1331
18CadizCadiz32413152245-2325
19Granada3239203361-2818
20Almeria33111213267-3514


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