Barcelona legend close to returning as coach

According to the latest reports from SPORT, Barcelona goalkeeping icon Victor Valdes is set to finalise his return to Barcelona in a coaching capacity. The announcement could happen as early as next week after Sergi Barjuan is announced as the head coach for Barcelona B.

Following the puzzling dismissal of Garcia Pimienta, Barjuan is set to take over the youth setup, the announcement for which will apparently happen some time on Thursday. Valdes would consequently join his technical staff, although his exact role is undefined at the moment.

Valdes had previously returned to Barcelona as the Juvenil A coach, but things took a bad turn, as disagreements with the previous board of directors led by Josep Maria Bartomeu led to him being fired just weeks after he took over.

Now, under Joan Laporta’s second tenure as the club president he has aimed to revamp the entire youth structure from the very foundations and restore the prominence La Masia had lost in the past few years. He has most likely chosen Valdes and Barjuan to return due to their support for him during the presidential campaign.

The most educated guess about Valdes’ new role at the club would be as an assistant coach to Barjuan or he would be in a different department, dedicatedly becoming the goalkeeping coach of the subsidiary team.

Valdes had reportedly already accepted Laporta’s offer to return to the club over two months ago, but at that time he was only in contention for the role of goalkeeping coach. Barjuan’s arrival may change the dynamics slightly, offering the former Barcelona shot-stopper a slightly bigger role.