Ernesto Valverde to leave Athletic in May after 502 matches and 2024 Copa del Rey | OneFootball

Ernesto Valverde will leave Athletic at the end of May, bringing his third spell to a close after 10 seasons and 502 matches.

According to El Correo, he announced his decision with 10 league matches remaining this season.

Promoted after his work with Bilbao Athletic, he replaced Jupp Heynckes for 2003-04. His top-flight debut yielded fifth place and UEFA Cup qualification. The following season ended ninth and, despite a Copa semi-final shootout loss to Betis, he chose to step away.

Valverde then managed Espanyol, Villarreal and Valencia, plus two productive stints at Olympiacos, where he won his first trophies as a coach.

On 20 June 2013 he returned under president Josu Urrutia to succeed Marcelo Bielsa. Athletic finished fourth and reached the Champions League for the first time since 1998-99 under Luis Fernández.

Across that spell he added a fifth place and two seventh-place finishes in La Liga. He left after 2016-17 to join Barcelona, spending two and a half seasons before being dismissed in 2019.

Out of management until the 2022 presidential race, he was backed by Jon Uriarte and Ricardo Barkala, with Uriarte’s victory paving the way for a third stint. After a difficult first year, he took the team back into Europe in his second and, above all, won the 2024 Copa del Rey after an agonising final against Mallorca.

Last year Athletic continued to grow, finishing fourth and returning to the Champions League. This season the strain has told. He departs as the manager with the most matches in the club’s history.

Source: El Correo