Valencia CF has appointed Braulio Vázquez as the new sporting director. The Galician executive returns to Mestalla after having held the same position between 2010 and 2013. His arrival came a few hours after the club announced the dismissal of Ron Gourlay as the head of the football department.
Vázquez was working at Osasuna and had renewed his contract there until 2029. To release him, Valencia paid the Navarrese club a sum of around 300,000 euros. The Mestalla entity presents its experience in Spanish football and its knowledge of the club as two central factors for the new stage. In addition to his two periods at Valencia, the executive has worked at Valladolid and for nine seasons at Osasuna.
The first decision of special relevance will be the choice of Carlos Corberán’s replacement. The information published by several media places Ernesto Valverde as the initial option, although À Punt indicates that he would have rejected joining this season. Jagoba Arrasate and José Luis Mendilibar appear among the alternatives studied. Those names are part of journalistic information and not an official announcement from the club.
Vázquez’s recent trajectory is linked to Osasuna, where he participated in the consolidation of the team in the highest category and in a stage with presence in a Copa final and in European competitions. In Mestalla he now faces a different scenario, with immediate decisions and little margin to correct the league start.
While the search continues, the coach of the affiliate, Óscar Sánchez, temporarily assumes the first team. The sporting context adds urgency to the work of the new management: Valencia faces a season start marked by poor results and needs to define both the bench and the decision-making structure soon.
The appointment of Vázquez is indeed confirmed; the identity of the next coach remains open. That difference is essential to interpret the situation: the club has already decided who will head the sports department, but it still has to communicate who will take charge of the team in a stable way.