Ronald Koeman has dismissed claims that he is using Everton as a stepping stone to becoming Barcelona manager.
The Dutchman signed a three-year deal with the Blues this summer but continues to be linked with a prospective return to his former club.
Koeman spent a combined eight years at the Nou Camp, serving as both an iconic player and latterly an assistant coach to Louis van Gaal.
Links between the 53-year-old and his former Catalonian stomping ground emerged again following comments he made about Romelu Lukaku’s future.
But Koeman insists that he is fully committed to his current project at Goodison Park.
“One time when I went to Valencia, they always speak about Koeman and Barcelona,” he told the Daily Mail.
“Everyone knows I have a relationship with Barcelona. Everyone says, ‘One day Koeman will be the coach in Barcelona’.
“I had a little bit in my mind that when I went to Valencia it was maybe a good step to do the next step to Barcelona. But now I’m more experienced.
“You cannot plan what is going to happen. You cannot plan your life. In life everything is possible. In football everything is possible.
“You can’t say, ‘I go to Everton in one or two years, I go to Barcelona’. No. Why? Maybe Everton will be bigger than it now is.
“Maybe Luis Enrique is doing a fantastic job for the next three years and they don’t need a coach. No. The best thing is to believe in the project; how Everton is.
“It is not the final moment in this project. Of course not. I signed for three years. I don’t think I signed for three years and will be out after one year.”