Spanish football club Athletic Bilbao officially announced on Thursday the return of former coach Ernesto Valverde to take over technical duties for the third time, as expected following John Uriarti’s victory in the presidential election for the Basque club last Friday.
The 58-year-old Valverde, who made the most bench appearances with Bilbao, was the preferred candidate to lead the red and white shirts for both Uriarti and his rival Ricardo Barcala, as opposed to the third candidate in the presidential race, Iñaki Arrichabaleta. who wanted to sign the Argentine Marcelo Bielsa.
Valverde returns to the management of the Basque club for the third time after the first transfer to Lviv between 2003 and 2006, and then the second between 2013 and 2017. He led him to his first title in 31 years by winning the Spanish Super Cup in 2015.
Valverde will take over his technical duties at Bilbao two years after leaving Barcelona, which he managed from 2017 to January 2020 and won two league titles with him, once the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup.
Bilbao finished eighth in the Spanish Football League last season, successfully qualifying for European competition.
