Manager who held talks over Man Utd interim role announces imminent exit - European Football

Manchester United have a history of appointing interim managers, with Michael Carrick on his second short-term spell in charge of the club, and they have previously cast the net wide

Ernesto Valverde will leave Athletic Club at the end of the season(Image: Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

Ernesto Valverde has announced that he will leave Athletic Bilbao at the end of the season. Valverde is in his third spell in charge of Athletic and has made the decision to step down once the 2025/26 campaign draws to a close.

Athletic have endured a difficult season and sit 10th in La Liga with 10 league games remaining and Valverde has therefore called time on his role. Despite the difficult spell, the 62-year-old will remain a club legend at Athletic, where he is six games away from reaching 500 in charge.

Valverde has mainly managed in his native Spain with Athletic, Villarreal, Espanyol, Valencia and Barcelona, but also had two spells in Greece with Olympiacos. However, he was one of the candidates shortlisted by Manchester United to become interim manager after Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked in November 2021.

United got in touch with the Spaniard, who was without a job after leaving Barcelona in 2020. He was considered alongside Mauricio Pochettino, who was at Paris Saint-Germain, while Carrick was embarking on his first caretaker spell with United.

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In the end, United appointed Ralf Rangnick on a contract until the end of the 2021/22 season. The Austrian won just 11 of his 29 games in charge and was replaced by Erik ten Hag in the summer.

Carrick returned to United as interim boss in January following the sacking of Ruben Amorim and is now in the frame for the full-time job this summer, having won seven of his nine games in charge.

Valverde, meanwhile, is unlikely to be considered this time around, yet will leave Athletic with his head held high, having won the Copa del Rey in 2024 – the club’s first major trophy in four decades.

Ernesto Valverde was in the running for the Manchester United job after leaving Barcelona(Image: SIPA USA/PA Images)

“Hello everyone,” he said in a video message on Friday. “I’m here today to announce that I won’t be Athletic’s head coach next season. This is a decision I’ve come to over time, one that I’ve discussed with the club, and I wanted to share it with you.

“At the same time, it’s worth noting that we have ten crucial league matches left, starting this Sunday against Betis. Ten matches in which we aim to achieve our goals, in which we have a lot to gain, in which we’re going to give it our all and which, without a doubt, we can win if we all stick together.”

Valverde held talks with United chiefs in November 2021, with him initially battling against Pochettino and Ten Hag for the job. But none of those candidates ended up arriving, with United turning to Rangnick in a left-field appointment, before Ten Hag eventually arrived from Ajax the following summer.

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