Ernesto Valverde shrugs off Barcelona link

Athletic Bilbao boss Ernesto Valverde has played down suggestions that he could replace Luis Enrique as head coach of Barcelona at the end of the season.

Enrique announced earlier this week that he would not be renewing his contract with the Catalan giants, and as a result will depart Camp Nou at the end of the current campaign.

Sevilla's Jorge Sampaoli and Bilbao's Valverde have both been strongly linked with the post, but Sampaoli recently played down the reports and now the latter has followed suit.

"I have nothing to do with a manager leaving a team or not, that is none of my concern. I'm focused on my team," Valverde told reporters.

"I understand all the reports around the managers. Sometimes they give you a team, sometimes they leave you without any. I understand that this is part of the game, but I'm not affected. I'm focused on what's ahead. What I consider right now is Athletic.

"This is not the first time this happens to me when I was in another team. It's one circumstance. I don't want to be rude, it's just that the existence of reports doesn't mean we have to comment on them. I understand them, but that's it."

Valverde's Bilbao contract will also expire at the end of the season.