Frank de Boer has insisted that former Barcelona teammate Ronald Koeman fully deserves the chance to manage the club after impressing in the Premier League.

The 53-year-old has 16 years of coaching experience behind him, the last three of which have seen him lead Southampton to their highest-ever league finish and take the first steps towards revolutionising Everton.

Koeman's impressive work has not gone unnoticed, having been heavily linked with replacing Luis Enrique at the end of the season, but the Dutchman has been quick to play down the speculation each time it comes up.

De Boer believes that Koeman would jump at the chance to return to Camp Nou in the future, though, as it remains a "dream" job for him.

"Normally I think he is [at clubs] for the long term but maybe in his contract if he gets a call from Barcelona then he can go because that is always his dream," he is quoted as saying by ESPN. "I think he also mentioned it a lot of times that when Barcelona come calling it would be fantastic.

"He would deserve it because he is doing well and he also did well with Southampton. But hopefully for Everton he doesn't get a call and he will stick there for a couple of years like he did at Southampton."

Koeman won a European Cup and four La Liga titles during six years at Barcelona as a player, before spending time at the club in an assistant manager capacity.