Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde has said he will only talk about the possibility of Andres Iniesta moving to China when there’s an offer on the table.
Diario Sport reported on Friday that Iniesta could walk away from Barca in “one of the biggest deals of the summer” after receiving an offer from Chinese Super League club Tianjin Quanjian worth €35 million a season.
Iniesta, who turns 34 in May, signed a lifetime contract at Camp Nou earlier this season but the terms of that deal allow him to decide if he automatically renews at the end of each campaign.
The midfielder has always said that he won’t outstay his welcome at Barca and that he will leave the club if he ever feels he is no longer contributing.
“If that happens, if he had an offer, we would talk about it,” Valverde said in a news conference when asked if he feared losing Iniesta this summer.
“But I have nothing to say about it at the moment because I have not even thought about it. I can’t comment on every news story that comes out.
“Andres is our player, he is with us and we want him to keep helping us like he usually does.”
Pressed on if he has considered being without Iniesta next season, Valverde added: “I don’t want to think about these things before they happen and I won’t go crazy thinking about [Iniesta].
“I leave these things to one side, thinking about them doesn’t help. We don’t have time when we’re in the month of February and we still have three competitions in play.”
Despite suffering from a couple of niggling injuries this season, Iniesta remains a regular in Valverde’s side.
The club captain has made 27 appearances in all competitions, scoring one goal and providing two assists.
Iniesta joined Barcelona as a 12-year-old and has gone on to make more than 650 first-team appearances . Only Xavi Hernandez (767) has played more games for the club.
Samuel Marsden covers Barcelona for ESPN FC. Follow him on Twitter @SamuelMarsden.
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