Coach Valverde signs one-year extension at Athletic Bilbao

Athletic Bilbao on Friday announced that coach Ernesto Valverde has agreed a one-year contract extension until June 2026.

The news means the former player will complete a decade in the dugout at the San Mames Stadium over three spells in charge.

Valverde has agreed his new contract after leading Athletic to the Champions League after a fourth place finish in La Liga this season, as well as reaching the semifinal of the Europa League. Last season he took the club to fifth place and ended a 40-year-wait to win the Copa del Rey.

61-year-old Valverde, who has also coached FC Barcelona, Espanyol, Valencia, Villarreal and Greek outfit Olympiacos, returned to Athletic for his third spell in charge in 2022, and has always maintained that he prefers to review his contract on a year-by-year basis.

He has coached Athletic for a record 451 matches.

"It is an important challenge. I feel responsibility here, with the team and the people I work with. We all work together to make a strong team and we will see how far we can go. We will continue to compete, which is something Athletic has always done," Valverde was quoted as saying by the club's website.

Valverde also looked ahead to the club's return to the Champions League. "It's a great excitement and a really tough competition, which I hope we can all enjoy," he said.