By Monica Villar, News Editor, LaLigaNews.tv
Manuel Llorente today gave a tearful press conference to inform everyone that he has decided to step down as president of Valencia CF.
“I have communicated to the Board of Directors and to the President of the Generalitat that I am resigning as president of Valencia CF”.
Manuel Llorente says that he had been mulling his decision over for days “but mostly during these last 24 hours, also after the meeting held with the Board of Trustees and also after hearing the address made by the new president of the Board of Trustees”.
He says that it became clear to him then that it had become a whole different scenario but nonetheless he said that “from today we will make the transition as easy as possible”.
“For us, for me, the most important thing is Valencia CF, Valencia is bigger than any individual person and for me, and it’s bigger than any institution, right now speaking as a ‘Valencianista’”.
By this point, the now ex-President started to show emotions, having to take a brief break while he drank some water and held back tears. What he was saying is that he leaves with a clean conscience of a job well done. He pointed out that “when this committee came in, in 2009, the club was in a fragile economic situation” and he says that he leaves it in a far better situation.
Valencia is now a club that in Manuel Llorente’s eyes is respected across Europe’s football institutions. He admits that the economic situation of the Club is still delicate, but he thinks that with everyone’s help they can make it better.
The 61 year old then moved on to start giving thanks. “I want to thank the people and institutions that have trusted in this administration. I think that it should be appreciated, not only what we did economically, but also where football is concerned, never had Valencia made 3 consecutive Champions League appearances and it had been many years since Valencia didn’t have a balanced income statement with benefits.”
His thanks were also dedicated to the supporters; he wanted to thank their understanding and called them a ‘family’: “I want to thank the supporters for their understanding, we have had to sell our big players to balance our economy, our fans must keep supporting the Club like they have done until now because this Club has to keep playing the Champions League”.
“I want to give thanks to friends, managers, players, club employees, the media, to everyone that has contributed to these four years in improving Valencia to what it is today”.
He finished the press conference hoping the best for Valencia, and he hoped the new Board, as well as Valencia can solve all their problems “so we can keep enjoying this feeling that is infinite in its glory, and will last forever”.
As well as Llorente resigning, the vice-president has also stepped down and he said that Fernando Giner would take his place next Sunday.
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