Barcelona set to pay £12m if they sack manager following disappointing results

FC Barcelona only managed a draw against Granada in their La Liga fixture on Monday evening. This comes as a major disappointment after coming off a heavy 3-0 defeat at the hands of German champions Bayern Munich in the Champions League earlier in the week. Manager Ronald Koeman now finds himself under immense pressure, with speculations about a possible sacking gaining ground.

However, Koeman said last week that he isn't worried about his future. Perhaps part of the reason is the fact that Barcelona will have to pay him around 14 million euros (£12) if he's sacked before the end of the campaign. Furthermore, Marca revealed that if his tenure is not extended beyond the summer of 2022, then the Catalan giants will have to shell out six million euros.

Now these payments may not seem to make any sense since the Dutchman's contract expires in June 2022. However, the additional payments are apparently part of a clause inserted by former Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu when he negotiated the deal with Koeman.

It may be remembered that the manager was essentially "pirated" off the Dutch National Football Team when he was hired by Barcelona. As such, Koeman had to pay a sizable amount to the Royal Dutch Football Association in order to terminate his contract. It is this same amount that Barcelona will owe him if his services are no longer required. The premature termination of his contract will leave him without income, and the clause was put in place to protect him.

New club president Joan Laporta has a big decision to make, but two bad results can still be salvaged. It is still very early in the season, and a number of injuries have hit the club. Barcelona also has an ongoing financial crisis, and players who accepted pay cuts won't be happy to see the club splashing cash because they grew impatient with the manager.

Koeman would not want to lose his job this early in the campaign of course, but at least he will have a reasonable separation pay. The problem for Barcelona is that they will need to pay off the clause n Koeman's contract, and they will also need to splash the cash on a new manager.