Kluivert: "Koeman at Barça? Maybe one day but I respect Valverde"

Kluivert: "Koeman at Barça? Maybe one day but I respect Valverde"

 Patrick Kluiver habló con SPORT sobre Valverde y Koeman / | Marta Fernández

Patrick talked about the possibility of his compatriot sitting on the Camp Nou bench

One of the issues Patrick Kluivert spoke about in his interview with SPORT was Ernesto Valverde's future on the Barcelona bench. 

Barça's director of youth football believes that "the first team coaches have to have an open mind. I understand that they need results. If they don't get them, they're out (of a job) tomorrow. But inside the club you have to have (young) players with talent that can make the first team. They have to have that feeling and the vision that they can make it. There are good examples. like Riqui Puig, Alex Collado and Carles Perez, who have been with the first team in preseason, which is really important." 

Asked explicitly about Valverde, Kluivert added: "Ernesto has used many players. You can't complain with a coach like that. he is open to giving minutes to youngsters." 

One of the names linked with replacing Valverde, when he leaves the club, is Dutch manager Ronald Koeman. 

"I know Ronald very well," Kluivert said of his compatriot, who has a clause in his contract that allows him to leave the Netherlands if Barcelona come calling after Euro 2020. "Out of respect for Valverde, I don't want to position myself. (Ronald) is a very good coach, he's doing really well with the Dutch national team. One day? I don't know, maybe, but I insist, out of respect for Valverde, I don't want to talk about other managers when there's one in a job at this club." 

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