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Ernesto Valverde had the chance to become Real Madrid's coach for the 2015-2016 season when the club asked him to replace Carlo Ancelotti at the end of this campaign, but the coach refused to join Real and decided to stay with Athletic Bilbao, according to AS.
Valverde is indeed a great manager who, surprisingly enough, is not rumored to be on Real's shortlist. According to that same report, the coach promised Bilbao President Josu Urrutia that he would stay next season with Athletic. He has been a target for FC Barcelona over the last couple of years, but they decided to go with Martino and Luis Enrique instead. Valverde is loyal to Athletic Bilbao but he will likely leave the Basque club for greener pastures sooner or later, as there are always big clubs interested in his talents.
He signed a contract extension last Friday, meaning that he was free to join Real Madrid when Los Blancos first showed their interest.