Martino: I won't replace Valdes until summer

Posted Friday, March 28, 2014 by YAHOO Sport

Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino has admitted the loss of Victor Valdes for the remainder of the season comes as a huge blow to his team, but has ruled out signing an emergency goalkeeper.

The Spain international was stretchered off in the first half of his side’s 3-0win over Celta and it has been confirmed by the club that the goalkeeper has torn his anterior cruciate ligament. The shot stopper is unlikely to play for the Catalans again, as his contract runs out on June 30 and he does not plan to renew it.

Martino, however, says he won’t be looking to bring in a new goalkeeper as the Blaugrana look to maintain their challenges for La Liga and the Champions League.

"I won’t sign another goalkeeper unless we suffer further misfortune," the Argentine told reporters after the game.

"It's happened a lot this season and in the case of Victor, it's happened twice. I'm not thinking about bad luck or a jinx and I thought everything that could happen had happened already. Obviously I was wrong.

"It’s a heavy blow to Victor. We’ll all try to overcome it. The group has been hit hard but will continue to fight and overcome this.

"Institutions and teams like Barca don't need excuses and we continue, we have everything at hand and we will keep fighting."