Madrid, Tuesday

Barcelona have appointed former Watford target Quique Setien as their new coach having sacked Ernesto Valverde.

It’s the first time the club have dismissed a coach mid-season in 17 years and it comes despite Barcelona being top of La Liga.

The 61-year-old Setien was linked with Watford at the start of December before they appointed Nigel Pearson.

In a statement the club said it wanted to ‘publicly thank Valverde for his commitment and professionalism’, but having won the previous two Spanish titles many feel he was treated poorly.

He was booed by Barcelona supporting spectators in Saudi Arabia at the recent Spanish Super Cup and when they were beaten in the semi-final by Atletico Madrid last Thursday the club decided to replace the 55 year old and went for Setien after being turned down by Xavi.

Mauricio Pochettino is highly regarded by president Josep Bartomeu but was always an unlikely contender having previously said he would rather ‘work on a farm’ than coach the rivals of his former club Espanyol.

The biggest surprise is that Setien will be given a contract for the remainder of this season and for the next two years.

He got Betis into the Europa League two seasons ago playing a Barça-like style of football.

At the end of last season he was sacked having failed to build on the previous campaign but he retained support among Barcelona supporters for famously saying that it was not enough to win; he wanted to win playing a certain style of football.

Setien will be officially be announced at the Nou Camp on Tuesday, in the Presidents Suite at 1.30pm CET in a private event, the club have confirmed. A photo session on the famous pitch will then follow. – AFP