Luis Enrique has confirmed he will stay on as head coach of treble winners Barcelona by signing a contract extension.
The 45-year-old is now committed to the club until the end of the 2016/17 campaign, and his backroom staff have also committed for the same duration. A degree of doubt had surrounded the future of the former Spain midfielder, but Barcelona club president Josep Maria Bartomeu announced that a deal due to expire next year had been increased by a further 12 months.
Luis Enrique, who played for both Barcelona and Real Madrid before turning to coaching, led Barcelona to Champions League, Primera Division and Copa del Rey titles in the season just ended. The treble was secured by Barcelona's 3-1 win over Juventus in Berlin on Saturday.
"We are naturally very happy," Luis Enrique said on the club's website. "After the wonderful year we've had, with difficulties but a very happy ending, we are more than thrilled about the hope of winning more titles. Everything that we have ahead of us is more than exciting."
Bartomeu added: "The treble symbolises more than any other thing the unity of the Barcelona family."
Luis Enrique replaced Tata Martino last summer and made a spectacular impact as Barcelona became the first club ever in Europe to win a treble twice. Pep Guardiola steered Barcelona to their first Primera Division, Champions League and Copa del Rey haul six years ago.
Despite matching that haul, the coach had been reluctant to say whether he would commit even to next season, for which he was contracted.
Being hailed by Bartomeu on local radio this week as having done "a magnificent job" has encouraged Enrique to stay on.
And rather than look elsewhere, the man who left Celta Vigo to take up the job at the Nou Camp will attempt to follow the heroics of the last 12 months with achievements in a similar vein. He was able to bring in Luis Suarez from Liverpool last summer to form part of a three-man attack, alongside Lionel Messi and Neymar, that terrorised defences in Spain and across Europe.
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