Barcelona confirmed Ernesto Valverde’s departure earlier this week, with Quique Setien being appointed as his successor.
It came after a tenure full of highs and lows as he guided the Catalan giants to back-to-back La Liga titles as well as domestic trophies, but their exits in the Champions League and other failures in cup competitions were red marks against him.
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Despite all the criticism and scrutiny he has come under though during his time at the Nou Camp, he has always come across as a classy individual, and this latest gesture would reinforce that impression.
According to Mundo Deportivo, Valverde still had a year-and-a-half left on his Barcelona contract, and so that would entitle him to a sizeable compensation fee to end his agreement early.
However, he has shown his class as he wanted to part on positive terms with the club, and it’s noted that while he will still receive a severance pay, it won’t be the full salary that he would have received had he seen out his contract.
In turn, he could have easily demanded that and drawn out talks, but ultimately it sounds as though he has come to a compromise to ensure that there is a clean split between the two parties and they can now move forward with their new paths without ongoing speculation or controversy.
Further, the report notes that those were his specific instructions to his agent while carrying out talks, and so it shows that it was important to him for that to happen.
Coupled with his touching open letter that he shared after the news of his departure was confirmed, it has to be said that he has dealt with the disappointment of losing his job in a top-class way, and it’s hoped that he can now find his next challenge sooner rather than later to enjoy further success in his coaching career.