Valencia fast-tracks Javier Aguirre deal to climb out of the relegation zone

Valencia is moving quickly and already has a name in mind to pull its dugout out of the hole: Javier Aguirre. Talks have picked up pace in recent days, and everything points to the club making a formal offer soon, according to information obtained by ESPN through Rodra.

The dismissal of Carlos Corberán last Sunday left Valencia without a coach and facing the urgent task of finding a replacement as soon as possible. The club wasted no time, naming Braulio Vázquez as its new sporting director with a clear mandate: lead the search for a coach who can turn things around.

Vázquez has weighed several options, but the scale is tipping heavily toward the Mexican. Before reaching this point, Valencia had also reached out to Ernesto Valverde, who was on the shortlist, but the Basque coach decided not to take charge of a team this season after wrapping up his spell at Athletic Club.

The urgency is no accident. Valencia sits in the relegation zone after picking up just four points from its first six league games. The schedule is closing in, and the locker room needs answers sooner rather than later.

A coach with a track record in La Liga and in the trenches of survival battles

Aguirre, 67, arrives with the prestige of having led Mexico to the round of 16 at the last World Cup, where the Mexican side was eliminated by England at Estadio Azteca. When that cycle with El Tri ended, a national team he managed across three separate spells (including the 2002 World Cup), the reins were handed to his assistant and Mexican soccer legend, Rafael Márquez.

El Vasco has already fielded approaches from other clubs, but a return to LaLiga is, according to sources close to him, his preferred option. And he is no stranger to the competition, having coached Atlético de Madrid, Osasuna, Espanyol, Zaragoza, Leganés and Mallorca, a résumé that has toughened him for all kinds of situations, including the most precarious spots on the table.

That experience is exactly what has the locker room excited. Sources close to the team say his possible arrival would be well received by the players, who view him as a coach with a proven track record of pulling teams out of the lower reaches of the standings.

With Braulio Vázquez now running the operation and Valverde out of the picture, Valencia appears to be heading toward an agreement with Aguirre. The question now is how long it will take to close the deal, because at Mestalla, with the team in the relegation zone, time is starting to run short.