Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 10y

Bravo excited to replace Valdes

Claudio Bravo says he is looking forward to replacing Victor Valdes as Barcelona goalkeeper after being unveiled by the club on Monday.

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Bravo, 31, joined the Catalan club from Real Sociedad for a reported fee of 12 million euros, in what is a summer of total change in the goalkeeping position at the Camp Nou, with last year's senior pair Victor Valdes and Jose Manuel Pinto having now moved on.

On arriving in Catalonia to complete the transfer after impressing at the current World Cup, the Chile international told his new club's website that replacing such figures was a big motivating factor for him.

"I am very motivated about replacing Victor Valdes and Pinto, they set high standards for this club," Bravo said. "I am truly looking forward to contributing to and helping the team. I am very ambitious and have high expectations about the good things I can achieve here."

Bravo said he was now looking forward to competing with fellow new signing Marc-Andre ter Stegen, 22, and promoted youth-teamer Jordi Masip, 25, for a first team spot.

"Such competition can only be a good thing," he said. "As long as it's for the good of the team."

Another new arrival at Barca this summer is former Blaugrana midfielder Gabri, who has been appointed as an assistant to Barca B coach Eusebio Sacristan.

The news of the return of Gabri, one of the first club figures to speak publicly about Liverpool forward Luis Suarez possibly moving to the Camp Nou this summer, was confirmed by a club statement.

"Former FC Barcelona first team star Gabriel Garcia 'Gabri' is returning to the club as assistant manager to Eusebio Sacristan and Carlos Hugo Garcia at Barca B," the statement said.

"The Catalan midfielder left the club for Ajax Amsterdam in 2006, where he played until 2009-2010 before retiring in Switzerland. Gabri came up through the youth ranks at FC Barcelona, forming part of the same generation as the likes of Carles Puyol and Xavi Hernandez."

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