Barcelona have denied reports of talks with Athletic Bilbao coach Ernesto Valverde.

TV3 stated their belief that Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu had called up his Athletic counterpart Josu Urrutia to inform him of their intention to begin talks with Valverde.

But the club have released a statement.

"Barcelona strongly deny having asked Athletic to negotiate the hiring of their coach, Ernesto Valverde, as reported this afternoon by TV3," it read.

"Likewise the club denies that sporting director Robert Fernandez has contacted Valverde in recent days to negotiate a move to Barcelona."