Valverde admits he wants to work with a smaller squad at Barcelona
The Barça coach wouldn't confirm who could leave
He also defended the club's model and big signings
Ernesto Valverde did not want to talk about Barcelona's plans for outgoing this month before Thursday's game against Celta Vigo.
But he did confirm, once again, that he prefers to have a smaller squad as the club look to move on a number of players in January.
Javier Mascherano, Rafinha, Aleix Vidal, Gerard Deulofeu and Arda Turan could all leave before the window closes.
“I have always preferred to work with smaller squads,” Valverde said in a press conference.
“I don’t want to be working with 20-odd players because then you have to leave a lot of people out and rotate more. And we have the B team, too, where we can also go for players.”
Model Barça
Valverde also defended the club breaking its transfer record twice in one season, saying Barça have always signed the world's best players.
“Barcelona’s model has always been the same,” he added. “[The club] have always gone to the transfer market to sign the best players in the world. Many of the very best players have played here.
“At the same time, we always try to look at the academy. We want to bring players up [to the first team] based on their style of play and their development.
“You have to remember, we have been through a generation with special players like Xavi and Iniesta (…) some times more players will come through from the academy; some times there will be less. But we also need to sign players to keep ourselves at the top.”
