It has only been a few weeks since Ernesto Valverde was shown the door from Barcelona, yet it seems he’s already seeking his next challenge.
And, as he himself says, he would want that challenge to take him as far away from home as possible.
When asked by journalists at the Bilbao International Football Summit last Thursday if there was a chance he could be accepting a position in the Premier League, a popular destination for managers of his calibre (such as Jose Guardiola), Valverde’s response left them at a loss for words.
“Well actually I’d like to go to Australia” said the former Olympiacos boss in a relaxed manner.
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When explaining his response, Valverde pointed out that he always admired Andres Iniesta’s decision to leave Barcelona behind him and go to Japan in the late years of his career: “I applauded Andres when he told me he’s going to Japan. I thought ‘Wow, he gets to understand a different culture and different people’, and I am also very interested in Japan,” said the “txingurri”.
He went on to explain that he has yet to make a decision for his future but it is highly likely for him to go abroad, as he is known to do “strange things”.
And it wouldn’t be the first time for him to try his luck outside of Spain, as Valverde took on the helms of Olympiacos back in 2008, leading the club to a domestic double.
In fact, the bond he shared with the team led him to return to the club one season later (2010), winning two more championship titles.
At the moment, there are quite a few teams who are on the hunt for a manager, such as Melbourne Victory, the Western Sydney Wanderers and the Newcastle Jets, but it remains unknown if they could actually afford his high salary.