Football
ESPN staff 7y

Ernesto Valverde hasn't disappointed as Barcelona manager - Bartomeu

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu says the club "didn't make a mistake" in hiring Ernesto Valverde to succeed Luis Enrique as manager, and has explained some of the club's offseason business this summer.

The Catalan giants had an embarrassing transfer window. Star forward Neymar shockingly left the club for Paris Saint-Germain in a world-record deal. And the Blaugrana very publicly failed in their attempt to bring Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho -- for whom they bid three times -- to the Camp Nou.

One of the positives, however, was the appointment of Valverde from Athletic Bilbao. Since taking the reins, the former Barcelona player has led the team to the top of La Liga with four wins from four games, and to an impressive 3-0 group-stage defeat of Juventus in the Champions League.

And Bartomeu told TVE the 53-year-old hasn't disappointed thus far.

"We chose Ernesto and we didn't make a mistake," Bartomeu said in a wide-ranging interview. "We're starting a new era with him and we have a lot of faith in him.

"He's smart, he believes in Barcelona, in our system. He manages the games well and he's not disappointed us. The players are delighted with him. He's earned the esteem of all Barcelona fans in just a few weeks.

"Things are going really well in La Liga and the Champions League, the team is growing, and it will continue to grow."

Neymar's departure seemingly caught Barcelona off guard. The club publicly confirmed Neymar's intentions to leave the club in early August, but reports suggesting they knew much sooner.

Bartomeu refuted those reports, saying: "Officially, we learned he was leaving when he said [to us]. At the end of July we saw things weren't going well, but his father told us there was nothing.

"But that's history. We have been self-critical. I think he had in his head that he was leavening but we believed in his father's word.

"I think he should have been honest and said he wanted to leave because he wasn't comfortable. Like Cesc and Pedro. Neymar and his father look out for their interests and I look out for Barcelona's. It's not true we were told in May or June [Neymar would leave]."

Addressing their unsuccessful attempts for Coutinho, Bartomeu insisted the club's offer "was less than €100 million" while reiterating they have moved on from the Brazil international.

"I will not say how much we offered, but [Liverpool] asked for €200m. But we weren't going to give 200 or 150," he said. "We decided to step away from such an expensive market. Our offer was less than €100m, with variable it could have reached €120m.

"There are clubs that bring money in from out of football and make [the market] more expensive. There's nothing else planned with Coutinho. We have to invest in La Masia and the academy. We have to be strong with FIFA and UEFA and clubs have to respect the rules.

UEFA have opened a formal investigation into PSG's finances following their record spend for Neymar and ex-Monaco forward Kylian Mbappe for a combined €402m.

Of the inquiry, Bartomeu added: "I am happy with the investigation into PSG, which is a request made by European clubs."

Along with Valverde, Barcelona welcomed in a number of recruits in the window, including ex-Barca youth product Gerard Deulofeu, as well as right-back Nelson Semedo, Brazil international Paulinho and club-record signing Ousmane Dembele.

Bartomeu insisted the club "signed what we wanted to sign" during the window, including Paulinho, who joined the Blaugrana to much skepticism.

And Bartomeu explained the "strategy" behind the ex-Tottenham flop's €40m move from Chinese Super League side Guangzhou Evergrande.

"We had a strategy in place," he said. "He is the midfielder we needed. He's a player with a lot of experience, an international with Brazil ... he's an important player for his country.

"He will add a lot to our team. But it's still soon. He played well [at Getafe] but there are still a lot of games to be played and there will be time to evaluate [his signing]."

Deulofeu was brought back to the Camp Nou after years away at Everton, Sevilla and AC Milan.

Bartomeu said: "He had to return to Barcelona. He's progressed away from the club and now he's back. And now he will add what he knows."

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