MADRID, 1 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The president of Valencia CF, Layhoon Chan, lamented this Wednesday the departure of Gennaro Gattuso as coach and alluded to the fact that the Italian “did not see a clear way to reverse” the current sporting situation of the team, at a point of relegation, and stated that Peter Lim “has not been interested” in a club that he has no intention of selling.
“It was not a matter of transfers (Gattuso’s departure). Gattuso was very direct and honest with us, he asked for a meeting on Sunday to share his honest version with me, but he had nothing to do with the transfers,” said Layhoon Chan. at a press conference, accompanied by Miguel Ángel Corona, Technical Director, and Javier Solís, Corporate Director.
The leader recalled that they reinforced the Italian “after the defeat in Valladolid because they believed in him like in the summer when he was signed” and that when he asked her to meet on Monday, she sensed that “it was not good news.” “It was very long, about four hours and he told us that he did not see a clear way to reverse the situation, we could only respect his will,” she stressed.
Chan believes that the replacement of the former midfielder, Salvador González, ‘Voro’, can “help” them now and that he can “give stability”. “He has experience and knows the team very well, he has the full support of the club and the players,” warned the board.
The Valencian president confirmed that the club’s owner, Peter Lim, “was not in person” at that meeting, but was “promptly informed”. “He was upset by the setback of the coach’s departure,” she admitted, stressing that the Singaporean millionaire “is informed of the protests” of the fans. “Proof of this is the change of direction last summer,” she stressed.
“The pressure that he puts on me and the management to solve things yes or yes is constant. His vision is to build a great club and achieve success, we are not people who run away from challenges. We have been here for eight years and he does not go with “If there is a difficulty, sell and not try. We have not received any credible offer to buy nor are we waiting and looking for it,” Chan added.
She reiterated that Lim “has not stopped being interested in Valencia” and that he remains “committed” as shown by the 35 million euros he has invested for this season. “He has no intention of selling the club. His goal is to do well, compete well, rebuild the club and fix the stadium. Peter knows about this situation and the previous ones, and within my responsibility, there is only one way to recover the affection of the people and it is work. There is no magic, the path of respect is mutual and can only be achieved through work”, he was sincere.
The leader does not forget that they started the season “well”, but that now they have “problems with the results”, and that they must also “solve the contingency of the stadium”. “We must be united,” she demanded, assuring that they have not stopped “working to improve the situation” and that they want “a competitive team at the highest level.”
Lim’s ‘right hand’ also made it clear that they have not spoken “at any time” about the possibility of descending and is aware of the “criticism”. “I accept them. In my team we are very self-critical, I am a very demanding person,” he added.
Finally, he stressed that the financial situation of the club is not the best after the pandemic and for not qualifying for the Champions League, and asserted that the players are paid “on time and in full”. “We always have the support of the majority shareholder. We have done many renovations and that is also investment and money,” he concluded.
CORONA: “WE ALREADY SAID THAT HE WAS NOT GOING TO SIGN BECAUSE HE SIGNED IN THE MARKET”
For his part, Miguel Ángel Corona, affirmed that Gattuso’s departure was due to the fact that the coach perceived “the difficulty of changing the situation”. “It was a very honest conversation and that is why the common agreement. It is not a question of throwing in the towel, he was transparent in his analysis of how to change the situation,” he insisted. “It was by mutual agreement,” he replied once more.
The manager pointed out that he is part of a structure in which “decision-making is common between the coach, the largest shareholder, the president and the technical part” and that he had already warned for the winter market that “it was not going to sign for signing” and that the coach’s departure “did not change the vision”.
“We have analyzed many players and we saw the possibility of operations, but we consider that some did not raise the quality level of the squad and that others could not be done due to ‘fair play’, and it was decided not to undertake any signing because we also fully trust this squad, which is going through a bad moment of performance, but which in the first part of the season played cheerful, attractive, fast and aggressive football”, he explained.
Corona understands “the discontent” that there may be in the fans, but he stressed that he puts all his “effort and enthusiasm” into fulfilling what has been “entrusted” to him. “I am calm in the sense that our opinion and analysis regarding the market is valued, but we need a complete consensus, four yeses are needed,” he concluded.
“We are in a bad streak and that modifies the states of confidence, the players need to feel valid like in the first part of the year. I have unshakable faith in the squad and we don’t talk about something I don’t even want to name,” he said when asked about the fear of going down
Finally, Corona pointed out that Gattuso did not convey “dissatisfaction” to them over the lack of signings despite the fact that “he is a direct and honest person in his way of expressing himself”, that he is not “looking for a coach” to replace him and that Peter Lim quoted him last Friday to “analyze the possibilities and financial availability” at the market close. “He told me to convey his full support to the coach and the squad, of course he was involved,” he said.