Spanish giants Barcelona have appointed Ernesto Valverde as their new head coach ahead of the coming season.
The 53-year-old Ernesto Valverde Tejedor is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a forward for Barcelona and other top La Liga clubs including Espanyol and Mallorca.
New Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde
Recall that outgoing manager Luis Enrique announced that he will no longer continue as the coach of the Catalan giants, saying he will leave at the end of the current season.
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Here we take a look at 4 facts about new Barca coach Ernesto Valverde
1. He has a huge wealth of managerial experience
The new Barca head coach has managed several top clubs in Spain including Athletic Bilbao, Espanyol, Villareal, Valencia as well as Olympiacos of Greece. He has been coaching since 2001, that is over 16 years now.
2. He is returning to Barcelona
Valverde was a Barcelona player between 1988 and 1990. He played 29 games and scored 10 goals at that time. He won the European Cup Winners’ Cup and the Copa del Rey. He is returning to the Catalan club, this time as a manager.
Ernesto Valverde during his days as a Barca player
3. He has worked with legends
He was a striker at Barcelona during the reign of Johan Cruyff as coach. England’s Gary Lineker, Valverde was also his team-mate as well as Ronald Koeman and Michael Laudrup in that Barcelona side. Pep Guardiola was in the youth team then.
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Valverde played alongside one-time Barcelona sporting director Txiki Begiristain and the former Barca B coach Eusebio who is now doing so well at Real Sociedad too.
4. He is vast in technology
Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu described the new manager as hard worker, and a man with vast experience with the application of technology.
"He is a hard worker and he is a fan of using technology in training and in managing matches.
"Valverde has the ability, the judgement, the knowledge and the experience. He promotes the youth players and he has a Barça way," Bartomeu concluded.