Valverde: 'Arturo Vidal will give us energy and a strong presence'

SANTA CLARA, California — With Futbol Club Barcelona less than 24 hours away from its third and final match of the 2018 International Champions Cup — versus the Italian side AC Milan on Saturday night at 5 PM Pacific time — manager Ernesto Valverde appeared before the media at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara to answer questions from reporters on a wide range of topics. Nevertheless, there were multiple questions asked about the team’s newest signing, Arturo Vidal, which the team announced earlier on Friday.

Here are the highlights of what Valverde had to say.

On Arturo Vidal:

“He’s a player who we hope will bring energy to the midfield. He has a lot of experience and has played a lot of games on all the teams he has appeared with. He’s accustomed to playing in big matches.“

“He has a lot of presence on the field and I think that will be very good for us.“

“Like Paulinho, he’s a player who's a little bit different than the ones we have and we think he will be able to adapt well.“

“He’s a warrior. Our team has space for many different types of players.“

“Last year there was a little bit of controversy when Paulinho came, and before he even played a single minute. Then people saw that he worked out really well.“

On FC Barcelona’s philosophy with signing new players:

“We are trying to enrich our team.“

“We are FC Barcelona and, like any other club, we are open to improving our team."

"We don’t know what might happen before the end of the transfer window.“