President Joan Laporta has revealed that contract discussions have already been held with Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman.

The Dutchman has needed to handle a number of on and off-the-pitch issues during his time at Camp Nou, including the club's financial crisis and the departure of Lionel Messi.

There has also been a change of leadership behind the scenes with Laporta returning to the Catalan giants to replace Josep Maria Bartomeu.

Despite calls for a fresh face in the dugout, Laporta has insisted that Koeman has his full support for the coming season.

Speaking to Onze TV, Laporta said: "Koeman has all my support, my respect and all the confidence so that he can work as comfortably as possible.

"We have already spoken a couple of times with Rob Jansen, his agent, so we are talking. I told the coach that he has to be strong, he cannot be in the weak position of ending the contract, so I raised the possibility of extending the contract."

Barcelona have recorded two wins and a draw from their opening three La Liga fixtures of the new campaign. body check tags ::