BARCELONA HAVE SACKED U19 head coach Victor Valdes with immediate effect, amid rumours of a bust-up with Patrick Kluivert behind the scenes.
Valdes returned to Camp Nou to take charge of the Juvenil A side back in July, five years after ending his time at the club as a player.
The 37-year-old rose through the La Masia ranks before earning legendary status at the club during a trophy-laden 12-year spell in the senior team, winning six La Liga titles and three Champions Leagues.
He was expected to oversee the development of Barca’s next generation of stars, but his coaching stint has been cut short prematurely.
Widespread reports have suggested that Valdes and the club’s director of youth, Kluivert, do not see eye to eye, with friction between the pair reaching boiling point over the last week.
Valdes did not appear on the sidelines during Barca U19s’ 2-1 win at Gimnastic de Tarragona on Saturday and he was officially dismissed today.
Barcelona released a statement on their website, which reads: “FC Barcelona has told Víctor Valdes that he is no longer the coach of Juvenil A and belonging to the club. Artiga Franc, until now coach of Juvenil B and in the Masia since 2010, becomes the coach of Juvenil A.”
According to Marca, the team’s formation was the latest point of contention between Valdes and Kluivert. The former had a preference for a 4-4-2, with the latter favouring 4-3-3.
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