Victor Valdes Sacked As Barca Youth Team Boss
Former Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes has been dismissed as manager of the club’s under 19 team.
The 37-year-old only took up the role in July but less than three months down the line, he has been shown the exit following disagreements with Barcelona’s director of youth football, Patrick Kluivert.
Valdes and Kluivert were teammates at the Camp Nou during their playing days but have barely seen eye-to-eye ever since they kick-started a working relationship.
The writings were on the wall regarding a potential Valdes exit when he failed to make the bench in their weekend’s fixture; a 2-1 win at Gimnastic de Tarragona on Saturday.
There were widespread reports that Valdes had already said his goodbyes to his players last week before the Catalan club released a statement on Monday confirming what many regarded as an open secret.
Barcelona have 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."
Barcelona’s u-19 team are second in the league but they have lost their opening two fixtures in the UEFA Youth League to Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan.
One of the success stories of Valdes’ short term in charge was the emergence of 16-year-old Ansu Fati, who broke into the first team at the start of the season and has scored two goals in five La Liga appearances.
Valdes won six La Liga titles and three UEFA Champions League trophies during his playing days as a Barcelona goalkeeper.
