March, Mateu Alemany was named the new director general of Valencia. The club also announced club president Lay Hoon Chan had submitted her resignation and that she would be replaced by Anil Murthy. After rumors arose of Lim's attempts at selling the club, Murthy assured the fans and local media that Valencia was a long-term project for both him and Lim, and they would not consider selling the club. For the following season, former Villarreal coach Marcelino was named the new manager on 12 May. After a successful first season under Marcelino, the club secured 4th position and a return to the Champions League. In his second season, they again finished 4th and also reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League. On 25 May 2019, Valencia won the Copa del Rey, upsetting FC Barcelona in the final as they won their first trophy since 2008. Both Marcelino and sporting director Mateu Alemany, who were credited as the architects of this success, were fired on 11 September 2019 after the former publicly criticized Lim. He was replaced by the ultimately unsuccessful Albert Celades, who was sacked due to poor results, while sporting director César Sanchez resigned that same season, making it six different managers and another six sporting directors by 2020. For the 2020–21 season, manager Javi Gracia was hired. He was put in charge of a team full of prospects and reserves after the club failed to sign any player during the summer transfer window, but sold key players such as captain Dani Parejo. Local wonderkid Ferran Torres was sold to Manchester City for half his market value. Overall, Valencia sold players worth 85 million euros in order to rebalance the club's books. At the beginning of the season, the club was unable to pay the salaries to the remaining players. After six seasons under Peter Lim's ownership, Valencia CF accumulated losses of 323 million euros, while the value of his biggest investment company, Thomson Medical Group, lost 1.7 billion euros during the same six-year period. Following those years of mismanagement, the playing squad was cut significantly in terms of quality and Lim's ownership has faced strong criticism in Valencia. In the 2021–2022 season, José Bordalás was hired after spending 5 seasons at Getafe CF. They reached the Copa del Rey final in his first season in charge, where they lost to Real Betis on penalties after a 1–1