Valverde is at a crossroads LaLiga Santander - Barcelona His future is up in the air

Given how well Barcelona have started the season, plus the fact that Ernesto Valverde's contract expires in the summer, the most logical thing would be for the club to have begun talks about a renewal.

The reality, however, is much different.

The two parties have not sat down to talk about the future and they have not done so because neither the club nor the coach are clear that the most appropriate thing would be to maintain the relationship for longer.

There's a need to go back to the previous season to begin to understand why this is the reality.

The surprising elimination in the Champions League last season was a tough blow.

President Josep Maria Bartomeu has yet to get over it completely and it was amplified in the following days after the Roma match when he questioned the coach and it leaked to the media.

Once Valverde found out, it was something he did not like and the idyllic relationship that existed until then was damaged.

The titles in LaLiga Santander and the Copa del Rey mitigated the impact, but the wound was already open.

Summer did not help to strengthen ties, either.

On the contrary, Valverde has seen how his wishes for the transfer market were ignored:

He wasn't fully on board with the departure of Paulinho, the signing of Malcolm, not bringing in a left-back and the dismissal of Robert Fernandez.

The club did spend more than 125 million euros on signings, but in these first six matches their participation has been minimal.

Valverde has repeatedly used his first XI and he has repeated the same team up to three times.

The rotations are minimal and this is a concern given that an excess of minutes for key players was a main reason why Barcelona were unable to react in Rome last season.

As a result, the two parties are going to wait a while to see how the events unfold.

Bartomeu has set the deadline for March for them to make a decision with the coach.

If there is no agreement to continue, the club want to know at that moment because that is when they have to start moving to look for a substitute.

If the answer is yes, they will begin in sealing continuity.

Valverde has a one-year option if both parties agree to it, so it would be interesting to see if the decision is simply to execute that option or to create a new contract with further years.

At this time it is difficult to predict the future of the coach.