Olympiakos release Valverde

Olympiakos Piraeus announced Friday the club were not renewing the contract of coach Ernesto Valverde despite the Spaniard leading the club to the league title and Greek Cup.

According to team spokesman Yiannis Moralis, Olympiakos had made a number of proposals for a new contract to Valverde which he rejected.

Olympiakos boss Socrates Kokkalis had offered Valverde a one million euro contract for next season plus 750,000 euros in potential bonuses, but the Spaniard reportedly wanted a salary of 1.5 million euros and the demand was rejected.

Moralis said that by the end of the month Olympiakos will announce Valverde’s replacement.

“We’d like to thank Mr. Valverde for his significant achievement in Olympiakos winning the double this season, but now we must move on. We made an offer which we considered serious but it was not accepted. Since it was not accepted, the board of directors decided not to renew his contract,” Moralis told reporters.

Valverde, 45, joined Olympiakos last year after resigning from Spain’s Espanyol, who he led to the UEFA Cup final in 2007.