Valverde yet to decide on Barca future

Barcelona (AFP) – Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde has admitted he is not sure if he will still be manager of the club next season. 

Valverde’s contract expires at the end of the current campaign and he confirmed on Saturday he has an option to extend the deal by another year. 

“I have a contract and I have a possibility to extend it a year more,” Valerde said. 

“The contract is there but we know what can happen in a season and the season is long. You have to see how the team does. 

“Everything seems good but we are still in the month of September and we have a lot ahead.” 

Coaches like Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique have left Barca in recent years after citing the fatigue involved in managing at the Camp Nou. 

“I don’t know about exhaustion or anything like that,” Valverde said. “We are still in September, there is plenty of room to feel exhausted, it is only just beginning.”

Barcelona won La Liga and the Copa del Rey last season in Valverde’s first year at the club. 

After their shock Champions League exit to Roma in the quarter-finals, however, reports suggested his future was in doubt. 

Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu has said the club will want to know Valverde’s position by March. 

“I do not remember the deadline but the ideal date to know the future would be about the month of March,” Bartomeu told Spanish radio station Onda Cero last week. 

“I would like him to continue because we are happy with his work. Just look back at the results and performances of last year.” 

Barca host Girona on Sunday, looking to extend their perfect start in La Liga. They sit top of the table with 12 points from their opening four games.