Ernesto Valverde

Ernesto Valverde Tejedor (born 9 February 1964) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a forward. He is the current manager of La Liga club Athletic Bilbao.

Over ten seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 264 games and 68 goals, adding 55 matches and nine goals in the Segunda División. He played for six teams in a 14-year professional career, including Espanyol, Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao.

Valverde later went on to have an extensive spell as a manager, including being in charge of all three clubs. He won the double with Olympiacos in 2008–09 and 2011–12, and Barcelona in 2017–18.

Valverde was born in the village of Viandar de la Vera, Province of Cáceres, Extremadura. After making his professional debut in the Segunda División – with Alavés and Sestao– he was transferred to Español in 1986, making his La Liga debut on 31 August in a 1–1 away draw against Atlético Madrid. In a season that included a second stage, he ended with 43 league appearances, scoring seven goals; in his final year, he was part of the squad that lost the 1988 UEFA Cup on penalties to Bayer Leverkusen.

Subsequently, Valverde played two years at Barcelona, winning a Copa del Rey and a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, although he appeared sparingly in the process (only 13 minutes against Lech Poznań in the latter tournament). However, in his second season he netted six times in only 12 games, including braces in consecutive wins over Sporting de Gijón (2–0) and Valencia (2–1).

Valverde left for Athletic Bilbao in 1990, being eligible although he was born in Extremadura (he moved to the Basque Country while still an infant). He spent six seasons with the team, scoring 20 league goals from 1992 to 1994 before moving to Mallorca, where he was relatively used as the Balearic Islands club achieved top-flight promotion, and retired the following summer aged 33; during his time at Athletic, he was nicknamed Txingurri (Basque for ant).

Valverde played once for Spain, appearing 20 minutes in a 2–1 UEFA Euro 1992 qualifier win against Iceland on 10 October 1990, in Seville.

Immediately after retiring, Valverde began his career as a manager in the youth departments of former club Athletic Bilbao, and four years later he became a co-trainer in the main squad. Heavily involved in the establishment of the women's team, in 2002 he again acted as head coach when he took over the B side, being promoted to first-team duties the following year; in 2003–04, they finished fifth and qualified for the UEFA Cup.