Valverde to return to Athletic Bilbao after club's election

Ernesto Valverde is very close to the

's bench after the election of Jon Uriarte as the new president of the club.

Valverde led Bilbao in two periods, spanning 2003-2005 and 2013-2017, and holds the record for most games as a club manager with 306 appearances. He achieved considerable success during his second spell at Athletic, winning the Spanish Super Cup in the 2015-16 season and defeating

5-1. He took over at Barca in 2017 and won La Liga and the Copa del Rey for two consecutive seasons, but failure in the Champions League and defeats to Roma and Liverpool eventually led to his dismissal.

Valverde did not lead another team after Barca, and now, with Uriarte on the Bilbao bench, he is closer than ever to returning to the team.

Another Bilbao presidential candidate, Ricardo Barkala, also backed Valverde, while Inaki Arechabaleta saw Marcelo Bielsa as a suitable option. At 43, Uriarte was the youngest of three candidates. He was previously a banker, who co-founded Ticketbis, which was sold to eBay in 2016. He was elected the new president of the club with 46.71% of the votes.

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