Harvey Elliott’s Spanish loan is already on its second regime. Valencia terminated the contracts of Corberán and Gourlay on Sunday, September 13, along with Corberán’s first-team coaching staff and Gourlay’s front-office team, in a wholesale reset of the sporting structure.
The 23-year-old midfielder joined Valencia on loan from Liverpool on September 1, through to the end of the 2026/27 season. Less than two weeks later, the coach he had been signed to play under was gone.
Corberán, appointed from West Bromwich Albion in December 2024, had guided Valencia from second-bottom of the standings to 12th place in his first partial season and to a ninth-place finish in his first full campaign. Five games into the new season, the club sat bottom of La Liga with one point, a home draw with Celta Vigo followed by four straight defeats that included a 5-0 home loss to Barcelona.
Valencia said the decision was intended “to begin a new phase for the running of the sporting structure and football operations.” B-team coach Óscar Sánchez was put in charge of the first team on an interim basis, with Braulio Vázquez appointed as the new sporting director.
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Sánchez names the mood
The interim coach did not dress up what he walked into.
“When you’re coming off a string of losses, it’s as much an emotional challenge as a technical or tactical one,” Sánchez told reporters on Monday.
“There is sadness about the results, but the team is eager to turn the situation around.”
Elliott’s reset, pressed again
Elliott had joined from Liverpool after a previous loan at Aston Villa and arrived at Mestalla short of first-team minutes on Merseyside. He now has to make his case to a new coaching staff in a squad that has lost the coach who was there to greet him and the executive who structured the deal. His Valencia loan runs to the end of the 2026/27 season, after which he is due back at Liverpool.
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Ownership on the ropes
The overhaul has not calmed fan anger at the Peter Lim ownership. His son Kiat has been club president since March 2025 and remains the target of protests that intensified after the Barcelona defeat.
Sánchez names his first team sheet as interim manager on Tuesday, when Valencia travel to Vitoria to face Deportivo Alavés at Mendizorroza.
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