OneFootball
Dan Burke·23 July 2018
OneFootball
Dan Burke·23 July 2018
Ernesto Valverde did not agree with Barcelona’s decision to send Paulinho on loan to Guangzhou Evergrande, according to reports in Spain.
Despite winning a league and cup double in his first season at the club, Marca claim Valverde doesn’t have the full trust of the Blaugrana hierarchy and the former Athletic Bilbao boss is said to be unhappy that Paulinho was allowed to leave without his consent.
The Brazilian only joined Barça from Guangzhou last summer and enjoyed an impressive campaign at Camp Nou, but last week he was rather bizarrely sent back to the Chinese Super League side on a one year loan deal.
Unlike at some of his previous clubs, it seems Valverde has little say in Barcelona’s transfer activity and it is instead general manager Pep Segura and president Josep Maria Bartomeu who are the key decision makers in that department.
Paulinho’s exit leaves Barça in need of midfield reinforcements and after missing out on Antoine Griezmann earlier this summer, it seems the La Liga champions now have Chelsea playmaker Willian in their sights.
Last season, Barcelona relied heavily on Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez and Philippe Coutinho for their goals and Valverde is reportedly keen to add more firepower to his ranks.
Meanwhile, it appears Colombian defender Yerry Mina is close to joining Everton just six months after moving to the Spanish giants from Palmeiras.