Former Nottingham Forest boss Aitor Karanka has revealed that Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde offered him advice before moving to the City Ground.
Karanka replaced Mark Warburton in January 2018, and guided the club to a 17th place finish in the Championship in his half-season in charge.
He would then remain in charge for just over year, until he left the club in January, leaving Forest in seventh place in the league table.
Martin O’Neill would replace Karanka as Reds boss, only the be replaced himself by current manager Sabri Lamouchi in the summer.
Valverde, who has managed Spanish giants Barcelona since 2017, previously worked as manager of Greek outfit Olympiacos, who are owned by Forest chief Evangelos Marinakis.
Karanka says prior to taking over at the City Ground, Valverde was one of the people who he spoke to about taking the job due to him previously working with the Reds owner.
The pair made 21 appearances together for Athletic Bilbao in the 1990s.
“Yes, he was one of those who told me about the club,” said Karanka in a translated interview with Spanish outlet AS.
“He told me his experience because the owners of Olympiacos are the same as those of Nottingham Forest.
“I also talked with other people because training in Greece is not the same as doing it in England.”
