Barcelona Deny Rumours About Contacting Athletic Bilbao About Ernesto Valverde

Barcelona have denied rumours they made contact with Athletic Bilbao to discuss bringing manager Ernesto Valverde to Catalonia next season.

As Football Espana shared on Friday, the Blaugrana sent out a statement via their official Twitter account:

Valverde is one of the managers frequently linked with the Barcelona job, as coach Luis Enrique is set to walk away at the end of the season.     

While Valverde wasn't regarded as the favourite to take over from Enrique in the weeks following the latter's departure announcement, speculation during the international break often revolved around the Bilbao boss.

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Previously, Lluis Miguelsanz of Sport reported the 53-year-old is set to decide whether he'll stay in the Basque Country before the end of the month.

Valverde would be an odd choice as the new Barcelona manager, given his relative lack of success as a coach. He won three league titles with Olympiakos in the non-competitive Greek league but has only won a Supercopa de Espana since returning to Spain.   

As WhoScored.com shared, his personal record against Real Madrid isn't cause for optimism either:

He does have a past with Barcelona as a player, something that always helps when trying to convince the Catalans. The likes of Enrique and Pep Guardiola spent large parts of their careers at the Camp Nou.

Per The Independent, other candidates to replace Enrique include Sevilla's Jorge Sampaoli, Everton's Ronald Koeman and Atletico Madrid's Diego Simeone. All three might not be available, however, unlike Valverde.