Recently, Coach Valverde was said to be the leading candidate to succeed Coach Luis Enrique at Barcelona. Mr. Enrique announced that he would part ways with the Nou Camp team since March.
This rumor is further supported by the fact that coach Ernesto Valverde has officially parted ways with Athletic Bilbao. The announcement was made by the Basque team with the content: "Ernesto Valverde will no longer lead the first team Athletic Bilbao in the 2017-2018 season. This coach will join President Josu Urrutia to hold a press conference at 12:00 on May 24 (local time) at San Mames Stadium".
According to World Deportivo, Mr. Valverde has agreed a 2-year contract with an additional 1-year extension clause with Barca. He will sign the contract after the 2016-2019 Spanish King's Cup final between Barcelona and Alaves.
The 53-year-old coach helped Athletic Bilbao win their first title in 3 decades when defeating Barcelona with a total score of 5-1 after 2 matches to win the Spanish Super Cup 2015. In addition, Bilbao has been in the top 7 of La Liga for 4 consecutive seasons, reaching the Spanish King's Cup final and the Europa League quarter-finals under him.
Mr. Valverde was also a Barcelona player during the 1988-1990 period. During this time, the Catalan team was crowned in the Spanish King's Cup and the European Super Cup. During his coaching career, he has led Espanyol, Olympiacos, Villareal and Valencia.
In 2009, when he was leading Olympiacos, Coach Valverde and the Greek team traveled to Vietnam. In the friendly match on My Dinh National Stadium, the Vietnam National Team won with a score of 1-0 thanks to the only goal of former striker Nguyen Quang Hai.
On May 21, Barcelona boss - Josep Bartomeu revealed that the team will announce a new head coach on May 29.
