Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman said he prefers to ‘give young people a chance’, as they ‘are the future’ of the Blaugrana, after excluding Juventus target Miralem Pjanic from the win over Real Sociedad.
The Bosnia international has been linked with a return to the Old Lady this summer and his future with Barca is increasingly uncertain, as he wasn’t in the matchday squad for the first La Liga match on Sunday.
Barcelona started with a 4-2 win over Real Sociedad, but Koeman explained ‘everyone knows’ the situation of Pjanic and why he decided to leave out the midfielder.
“We have 27 players, I have to leave out four and everyone knows his situation perfectly,” Koeman told the reports, according to TMW.
“I’m a coach who always gives a chance to young people, who are the future of this club. Collado was almost sold to a Belgian team 10 days ago and right now I prefer to have Demir.
“He’s part of the competition and I prefer to have other players.”
Pjanic, who moved to Camp Nou last summer in an exchange deal including Arthur Melo, has a contract until June 2024 with Barca, who are trying to get rid of his salaries.
The 31-year-old played 30 competitive games with the Blaugrana last term and has been linked to reunite with Max Allegri at the Allianz Stadium, where he spent four years playing 178 competitive games.