{"id":1099093,"date":"2019-07-26T18:36:22","date_gmt":"2019-07-26T17:36:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1099093"},"modified":"2022-09-20T22:28:03","modified_gmt":"2022-09-20T21:28:03","slug":"ernesto-valverde-suggests-barcelona-have-won-race-to-sign-junior-firpo-despite-liverpool-links","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/news\/ernesto-valverde-suggests-barcelona-have-won-race-to-sign-junior-firpo-despite-liverpool-links\/","title":{"rendered":"Ernesto Valverde suggests Barcelona have won race to sign Junior Firpo despite Liverpool links"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Ernesto Valverde has confirmed a new left-back may soon arrive at the Camp Nou amid reports Barcelona have beaten Liverpool to the signature of Junior Firpo.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Firpo notched three goals and four assists for Real Betis last season, following up with some impressive attacking performances as Spain won this summer&#8217;s Uefa U-21 European Championships in Italy.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Firpo to Bar\u00e7a? Five key things to know&#8230;<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Firpo has 43 senior appearances under his belt for Betis to date.<\/li>\n<li>He provided four La Liga assists last term and won the U-21 Euros this summer.<\/li>\n<li>His form over the past 12 months drew links to Bar\u00e7a, Liverpool and Man Utd.<\/li>\n<li>A tug of war between Bar\u00e7a and Liverpool emerged.<\/li>\n<li>Valverde has admitted he is seeking a left-back, making Bar\u00e7a favourites.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>https:\/\/audioboom.com\/posts\/7324413-he-ll-be-arsenal-s-new-double-pivot-santi-cazorla<\/p>\n<p>His form over the past 12 months has drawn <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mirror.co.uk\/sport\/football\/transfer-news\/barcelona-move-liverpool-man-utd-18325083\" rel=\"noopener\">links<\/a> to some of Europe&#8217;s biggest clubs, with Barcelona and Liverpool emerging as favourites to sign him.<\/p>\n<p>Bar\u00e7a have only the 30-year-old Jordi Alba in their squad as a natural left-back, while Jurgen Klopp is short of cover for Andy Robertson having allowed Alberto Moreno to depart Anfield on a free transfer.<\/p>\n<p>It is now thought Bar\u00e7a have beaten Liverpool to the punch and Valverde has admitted he is seeking to remedy this &#8220;problem&#8221; area.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"What Should Arsenal Do Next? Squawka Documentary\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PtQrlhxwj78?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Subscribe to <a href=\"http:\/\/sqwk.at\/Squawka-Sub\" rel=\"noopener\">Squawka\u2019s Youtube channel here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It is true that we had some problems on the left side [of defence] and it is possible that somebody may arrive,&#8221; he told reporters in Japan ahead of Bar\u00e7a&#8217;s friendly against Vissel Kobe.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;But we are open to the market until the last day and we will see what happens.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Valverde addresses Rakitic future amid Man Utd links<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>While it would appear Firpo is on the verge of joining Bar\u00e7a, the future of midfielder Ivan Rakitic remains rather unclear.<\/p>\n<p>The Croatia international has made 268 competitive appearances for the Blaugrana to date, winning nine major honours in the process.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_1099014\" style=\"width: 1210px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/major-signings-debuts-rated-griezmann\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1099014\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1099014\" src=\"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/en\/2019\/07\/25133557\/awb-griez.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/en\/2019\/07\/25133557\/awb-griez.png 1200w, https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/en\/2019\/07\/25133557\/awb-griez-300x170.png 300w, https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/en\/2019\/07\/25133557\/awb-griez-768x432.png 768w, https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/en\/2019\/07\/25133557\/awb-griez-1024x576.png 1024w, https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/en\/2019\/07\/25133557\/awb-griez-66x37.png 66w, https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/en\/2019\/07\/25133557\/awb-griez-620x350.png 620w, https:\/\/media.squawka.com\/images\/en\/2019\/07\/25133557\/awb-griez-940x530.png 940w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1099014\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>READ MORE:<\/strong><\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/major-signings-debuts-rated-griezmann\">Griezmann, Wan-Bissaka &amp; De Ligt: Major signings\u2019 pre-season debuts rated<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p>However, the 31-year-old faces competition from the newly signed Frenkie de Jong this season and with reports linking Rakitic to Manchester United multiplying, Valverde has refused to guarantee his place in the starting XI this season.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;Rakitic has been an important player, I don\u2019t know if it will be this season,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2019\/07\/23\/ernesto-valverde-opens-door-ivan-rakitic-exit-amid-man-utd-transfer-speculation-10446933\/\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> the Spaniard. &#8220;New players are coming and he will have to win it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><script>(function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(d.getElementById(id))return;js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src='https:\/\/embed.playbuzz.com\/sdk.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}(document,'script','playbuzz-sdk'));<\/script><\/p>\n<div class=\"playbuzz\" data-id=\"66c974de-b77b-4864-9922-f0029ea5359e\" data-show-info=\"false\" data-show-share=\"false\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ernesto Valverde has confirmed a new left-back may soon arrive at the Camp Nou amid reports Barcelona have beaten Liverpool to the signature of Junior Firpo. Firpo notched three goals and four assists for Real Betis last season, following up with some impressive attacking performances as Spain won this summer&#8217;s Uefa U-21 European Championships in&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":1099098,"parent":0,"menu_order":5925,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_focuskw":"","_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"Ernesto Valverde has confirmed he may sign a new left-back soon amid reports Bar\u00e7a have beaten Liverpool to the signature of Junior Firpo.","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"news-category":[],"class_list":["post-1099093","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"external_featured_image_url":"","hide_featured_image_pattern":false},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.1 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Ernesto Valverde suggests Barcelona have won 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