Valverde talks Coutinho, Neymar and Cucurella ahead of Eibar

The latest from the Barcelona boss

Ernesto Valverde has been talking to the press ahead of Sunday’s visit from Eibar in La Liga.

He was asked plenty of questions about the January transfer window and admitted the club could move for a striker but refused to answer questions about Alvaro Morata.

He also talked about Philippe Coutinho’s situation, rumors about a return for Neymar and youngster Marc Cucurella who is on loan at Eibar this season.

Valverde on Coutinho

If you watch games as the season goes by some have worked out better than others. The other day wasn’t a good game for the whole team, it was a tough game. Coutinho has had some great games for us and hopefully that will continue. He needs to improve, all the players do, I look more at the things that Philippe does well. They all have good parts to their play and we need to make the most of those.

Valverde on buying a replacement for Munir

We need to assess it. Munir leaving has left a gap, also Rafinha being injured because we often used him as a midfielder going forwards. We have Alena but he’s more of a midfielder really. We’ll see if we can sign other players, but we need to look at the finances, so we’ll see if we find someone or not. We’ve got B team players as well.

Valverde on Neymar return rumors

Look people tend to say big things about players who are at other clubs. He’s a great player but now he’s at another club. There’s nothing more to say. Nobody has phoned me I can guarantee you that. He’s a PSG player, we respect the players, we respect PSG

Valverde on Cucurella

He’s having a good season, that’s good news for him, he deserves it, he’s worked hard, for Eibar and for us. I think it’s good news. I think it’s important all the players in the B team need to make that jump into playing first-team football. It brings out the best in Cucurella. it’s been a progressive step forward for him, he’s a youth team player who could come back here at some stage.

Source: barcablaugranes.com