Ernesto Valverde hails Barcelona as 'the best team in the world'

Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde has hailed his side as the best team in world football today.

Despite the highly-publicised world record sale of Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain in the summer that saw the club receive a lot of criticism, Barcelona are currently in a very enviable position.

They are already 16 points ahead of current champions Real Madrid, who recently suffered a 1-0 home loss to Villarreal, while their closest competition in Atletico Madrid trail them by six points, having played an extra game.

To add to this, La Blaugrana recently completed their second signing of the January transfer window with the arrival of defender Yerry Mina from Brazilian club Palmeiras.

Mina follows Barcelona's big-money signing of Philippe Coutinho from Liverpool as the currently unbeaten La Liga leaders have further strengthened their squad this season.

Valverde could not be happier with the players at his disposal as he always believed that he was going to be managing the best team in the world following his departure from Athletic Bilbao.

"Well, I'm very happy with the players who I had before the arrival of these two players, and with the ones I had at the end of the summer and with the ones I have now," Valverde was quoted as saying by FourFourTwo.

"I thought Barca was the best team when I was the coach of Athletic and now I can see that. Barca is the best team in the world."

Valverde also commented on Mina, whose arrival will allow Javier Mascherano to depart the Nou Camp for Chinese Super League side Hebei China Fortune.

"He's a player who's daring at the offensive area of the field. He's spectacular in the air and defensively as well," Valverde added.

"Seeing him train, we need to see how he's going to adapt to the team. That's something important. He gives us the feeling he can do anything.

"When might he make his debut? I don't know. We have to see how he feels. He has to train with the team first. We have a style of play he has to adapt to. We know it's not easy for defenders and that's where we think he's going to play."