Thanks Aymen for your amazing defending with hands

I can't wait for this trash to get out of Valencia CF.  Why is Pako still playing this trash? He was the worst player last match, he get Vezo out and introduces Mustafi, and now he plays this trash again. I'd rather put Nani as central defender than this garbage!

Please get rid of the trash!

Ezequiel Garay to join Valencia CF

Ezequiel Garay is very close to joining Valencia CF, the deal has been struck between Valencia CF and Zenit, Valencia CF would have to pay them around 18 million euros and the player would get a rather big 3.5 million salary per year, not including bonuses, with the potential to reach 4 million euros.

The deal would not be finalized though until Shkodran Mustafi completes his medical in London and officially signs for Arsenal in a deal worst 41 million euros. Initially Arsenal FC were only willing to spend 30 million euros on the player, then increased their offer to 35 million, ultimately being forced to dish out 41 million euros because of the looming end of the summer transfer window.

Aymen Abdennour is also close to leaving Valencia CF for Turkish club Besiktas, as Valencia CF is looking to offload him due to his extremely high salary and disappointing performances for Valencia CF since he arrived there. Valencia CF is looking to keep Vezo and Santos as backups, hoping they would improve as they are still young and can become better yet.

Replacement for Aymen Abdennour would be Sidnei who's one of Mendez agents and the transfer fee for his would be in the region of 10 million euros.

The arrival for Garay is great, he is a great defender, experienced, strong, hard working, but of course the sale of Mustafi is terrible. Coupling Mustafi with Garay would have been amazing and it would have given Valencia CF one of the best defenses in Spain just like that. Garay is someone who commands the back line and as we saw when Otamendi was here and commanding the back line, the defense did much better when taking orders from an experienced and confident defender.

The departure of Aymen is great, get rid of his high salary and his error prone ways and make way for a new defender. The issue is that Sidnei is the first option, though with Lim and his friend Mendez being so unpopular right now it may force another option.

The second option and one which makes more sense, seems like a better option overall is Marcos Rojo. Manchester United are not counting on the player anymore and since he came in for around 14 million euros, while being on the periphery now, he is likely to cost Valencia CF bellow 10 million euros, possibly making a loan deal with Manchester with the option to purchase the player at the end of the season for 10 or so million euros.

If Garay and Rojo arrive I'd be okay with it, not excited or great about it, but okay. We'd lose out on Mustafi, but improve significantly on Aymen, so ultimately a decent deal.

SD Eibar vs Valencia CF Match Preview

SD Eibar vs Valencia CF Match Preview

Stadium: Ipurua Municipal Stadium
Date: 27.08.2016 18:15 CET
  2nd matchday, La Liga 

Coaches: José Luis Mendilibar and Pako Ayestaran

SD Eibar lost their opening match of the 2016/17 season away to Deportivo La Coruna, it was a close match score wise, but Deportivo just edged out the visitors.

Statistically wise even though its too early to count, SD Eibar has less conceded goals than Valencia CF, in fact two less after just one round of matches. SD Eibar has a strong core of players who've played with each other for a long period of time and while their players might not be world class, they are fighters and have a good solid teamwork.

Valencia CF on the other hand is coming to this match after a terrible opening game in which they lost 4-2 to Las Palmas, one of the newer teams to La Liga, in fact it was a devastating loss for Valencia CF, conceding 4 goals, including 3 in the span of 15 minutes in the first half, while managing to score only 2 goals in return.

Pako's now famous saying before the match when asked about Valencia's terrible defense was "we'll just have to score one more than them", well try and score 5 then and see how well it goes, not so much huh? Back to reality now?

Valencia CF is a shadow of its former self, all of the club's top players have been sold or literally hanging on the exit door, waiting for final confirmation, even Paco Alcacer which I was stupid enough to consider staying is still not out of the clear. He wants to leave, Peter Lim is eager to sell him for profits in his coffers, the issue is FC Barcelona don't have enough money, all they are willing to offer is 30 million euros, which is extremely cheap in this transfer window. If FC Barcelona can somehow get an additional 10 million euros, Paco Alcacer is gone.

I've gotten first hand 100% reliable information that Pako Ayestaran wants to leave, he has supposedly been lied about the transfers and the teams objectives and especially about the players who are staying. I've been informed that of course he wants the job, he wants to coach Valencia CF, but he doesn't want to take the fall later on for the teams poor performances and this match against SD Eibar would inform his decision whether to leave or stay.

UPDATE/BREAKING:  Pako has defied orders again and included Paco Alcacer in the squad, even though negotiations are still ongoing for his sale. If he fields him it would be an even bigger defiance, much like what he did last match when he fielded Mustafi, when he was ordered not to use him, as a potential transfer was looming. Wow, this is so crazy. The club is in full disarray.

I've been really realistic about the club and where its at, some fans, some readers are calling it being negative, but I'm obviously angry, but that hasn't clouded my judgement, I'm 100% objective and real, as I've been for 6+ years writing for this blog. Everything I've said in the past 6 years in on the record, anyone can look it, its a click of a page away and I can say for certain that I've been right 100% on everything, I have the written records for everyone to read and I'm right about the team now.

You may think I'm being negative, I'm being a realist, I'm writing the facts as they are. Yeah I've taken some liberty with some of the words I've used because I am angry, but that doesn't change the facts and the facts are as I've stated them in posts and in comments.

Valencia CF Squad:

Goalkeepers: Ryan, Jaume
Defenders: Cancelo, Montoya, Aymen, Santos, Vezo, Gaya
Midfielders: Suarez, Enzo Perez, Parejo, Medran, Soler, Nani, Bakkali
Forwards: Paco Alcácer, Santi Mina, Moreno, Rafa Mir

Technical Details Valencia CF (probable setups):
Formation: 4-3-3
Line-up: Ryan; Cancelo, Santos, Ayemn, Gaya; Enzo, Parejo, Medran; Nani, Moreno, Mina.
Tactics: High defensive line, all roung pressure, high tempo pressing, mixed passing, winged attacks

Result Prediction:

SD Eibar 2-1 Valencia CF

SD Eibar have a much stronger defense, they have a good solid core, they are playing at home and as such I expect them to just edge out Valencia CF. Valencia CF has a leaky defense, so I'm expecting the defense to concede two goals, hopefully not 4  as before, that would really suck, I also expect the team to score one goal, probably Moreno who's been in top form in the preseason.

Pako Ayestaran wants to leave

Valencia CF coach Pako Ayestaran wants to leave the club, turns out he's been told sweet big lies and now that he's had a dose of reality check hit him in the face, he is seriously considering resigning as coach of Valencia CF.

I think the next match would inform Pako's decision to stay or resign. I think if he sees another terrible loss like the previous one, where we concede goals left and right and we can't score goals on our own, I think he will make the decision to leave the club and I wouldn't blame him. He needs to jump off of a sinking ship before he gets all of the blame.

If you have followed his interviews for the past 10 days, you'll see he is giving cryptic messages and sort of trying to pressure the club into sanity, he even came out after Las Palmas game and publicly stated that Mustafi was not for sale, he knew Mustafi was on the exit door, he defied Lim's orders and said that Mustafi would stay, also calling for reinforcements for the club. Well tough luck champ, you won't be getting any and you'll loose Mustafi.

At that point I literally don't see how Valencia CF can even survive as a football club.

I support VCF, not this imposter

Look guys and gals, I support VCF, I would have supported VCF through hell and back, but this is an imposter club, this is NOT Valencia CF.

There is nothing left from Valencia CF. No staff, management, ownership, players, coaches, ambassadors, etc... There is diminishing fan base that is soon going to realize as well that they are supporting an imposter and everyone would quit.

What is dead may not die though, as phoenix from the ashes the spirit of VCF can live again, get the parasite that's attached to the club out and we can restore Valencia CF. This is a parasite, an imposter club, but VCF can be restored.

Peter Lim get lost from this club NOW!

You've destroyed this club, you absolutely ravaged, murdered this club with over 100 years of history and tradition. You parasite, you removed everyone at the helm, including the internal people bellow the highest levels who've been at Valencia CF for 10+ years, some of them 20+ years and you put in garbage new cohorts that would be the yes men to everything you do.

It took you only 3 years to destroy this club, first you fed your friend tens of millions of dollars buying his absurdly overpriced players, then you purchase shares in them, so Valencia CF owns some, you own some and now not even in the third year and you've already sold all of them.

You are not welcomed in Valencia, I urge fans not to use violence, but make your voices heard, post negative reviews about his businesses, use strong words if he makes the mistake to travel to VCF, make sure you are vocal about the issue, but again no need for violence. That won't solve anything, but we need to make sure he leaves our club alone. This parasite has destroyed the club that many of us have supported for almost 20 years, in some cases even more. Spanish fans who've supported the club for 50+ years and now we've been turned into a club fighting to survive relegation.

The parasite that is Peter Lim needs to go right now!

Paco wants to leave and I don't blame him

Only a fool would want to stay at Valencia CF and likely this season as the previous try not to get relegated, at best finish between 7th to 10th position.

I think he might have wanted to stay before, but after the home loss to La Liga newcomer Las Palmas, conceding 4 goals as if they were playing against a top team like Bayern or Barca or Manchester City, its no wonder the guy wants to leave.

Don't blame Paco Alcacer, he is not an idiot, I'm sure he in his own way loves the club, he is thankful to the opportunity the club has given him, but he doesn't want to play to avoid relegation, he doesn't want to play to be top 10 with no prospect of European football in the foreseeable future for Valencia CF.

Peter Lim has destroyed Valencia CF, it took a "billionaire" investor to finally and ultimately ravage the club. With Diego Alves literally half way out of the club, Paco Alcacer on the exit door, do you think Mustafi would like to stay? He is probably on the exit door as well and with those 3 players gone there is no point in supporting an imposter club. Valencia CF is not owned by Spanish, its certainly not owned by the fans as it used to be, it doesn't have any Spanish management, all of the known names internally are gone, all of the veterans behind closed doors who kept things ticking are gone, most of the former big names were brought in at some point and thrown out soon after, no player has played for the team for over 2 years, what is Valencia CF?

Its just a name, if the soul, if the spirit, if the idea of the club is gone, its gone, its dead. If Paco leaves, if Mustafi leaves, when Diego Alves leaves there will be nothing left. We would have a team of random players, most of whom a bunch of average nobodies, what is there to support?

The idea, the spirit, the soul of Valencia CF is gone, Peter Lim has absolutely murdered it!!!!!!!!!! Wish he never took over the club, he's murdered this club.

Ryan and Vezo will stop those goals

What a joke. What a joke you are Lim and your garbage cohorts. Sell Mustafi right now, sell our best keeper Diego Alves, of course we can fight for Champions league football with Vezo, Aymen, Ryan, etc... as our defense. Sell Barragan, bring in a worse player in Montoya who even failed at Betis.

What a joke. Its a sick joke! SICK JOKE! But of course transfers are supposedly not important, supposedly team play, yeah but you need actually good players to have team play in the first place.

Its a sick joke! Why didn't you hire proven coach last season, someone like Pelegrini would only cost much in the short term, long term you gain money, what kind of garbage business man do you have to be to not understand basic INVESTMENT concepts?

Valencia CF should not sell on the cheap

Valencia CF should not sell their players on the cheap, especially in a market like today, where all the prices are extremely inflated.

I saw several people in the comments section in the last several days on this blog, saying how certain prices for certain players are too high, but look at the market. Claudio Bravo is supposedly to cost City 20 million pounds, that is 25 million euros even with the pound really low historically.

Why isn't Diego Alves worth as much? Diego Alves have played a lot more than Bravo, he's objectively better than him, he's the number one penalty stopper in Spain, possibly even in Europe, so why is he worth 10 million, maximum 15 million, yet someone like Claudio Bravo is worth 20+ million euros?

How can Raul Albiol on his last year of his contract in Napoli worth over 15 million euros, John Stones cost City 55 over million euros, Samuel Umtiti cost FC Barcelona 25 million, yet someone like Shkodran Mustafi is only worth 30 million?

Aymen Abdennour might have had a poor season at Valencia CF, but that doesn't erase his previous good seasons and if we purchased him 25 million euros, he sure as hell is still worth 20 million euros now.

The transfer market is extremely inflated, just 5 years ago I wouldn't have dreamed of a defender costing 30 million euros, maybe the top 3 in the world defenders could warrant such prices, but these days every good defender seems to be over 20 million euros, with the very good ones reaching 40-60 million euros. In such a market selling realistically is not an option, you have to go with it, you have to ride the wave of inflated prices and you have to play hardball.

If Arsenal come knocking on your door because they are desperate for a quality defender, because their CD's are all injured just 2 weens before the end of the transfer window, you play hardball, you ask for 60 million euros, negotiate down to 50 million euros and then sell.
You also don't go around yelling on top of your lungs how we are desperate to sell because of fair play rules, signaling to other clubs that you are willing to let players on the cheap just to lower the squad salary earnings.

Paco Alcacer to me is realistically worth 25-30 million, in this inflated market he is worth at least 50 million euros. If Anthony Martial can reach up to 80 million euros with bonuses added, when strikers like Kevim Gameiro can reach 30 million euros, then Paco Alcacer one of our best players for two seasons is certainly wroth 50 million euros.

The transfer saga continues

The transfer saga at Valencia CF continues, as we are inching closer to the start of the new season, we still don't know what our final team will look like, I think this is the biggest frustration many fans have, just not knowing and unsure if we can replace players we sell so late in the transfer window with players that are equally as good, or preferably better.

There is no point to sell great players to get weaker ones, its just a defeatist policy that can only lead to ruin, such policies are suicide and especially at Valencia CF should not happen.

If we were going to sell Shkodran Mustafi it had to be a month ago, at a huge price of 40 million euros, where we had enough time to find a suitable replacement, purchase them, incorporate them into the team and establish them, not right now where we barely even have time to find an alternative, let alone acquire them and then establish them in the team.

But then again Mustafi could stay and Aymen Abdennour could leave, after all that was the latest and seemed like more precise rumor, something that made much more sense, but the fact that nothing has happened yet, leads me to believe there is more to the Mustafi story that just pure speculation.

As far as Paco Alcacer is concerned, I'm not worried anymore, we have had several public statements that Paco isn't for sale and he's personally said he is not looking to move, unless of course the club want to sell him, which they've publicly stated they don't. So I don't expect Paco to leave at this point, if we sell him it would be devastating, especially this close to the transfer window closing, it would be absurd to sell one of our best players in the last two seasons and basically our only pure striker in the team, Moreno still has a long way to convert back to that striker role after playing on the wing for the past two seasons.

Diego Alves to me is a done deal, he's as good as gone, the question is how much will we get for him, personally I believe he is worth 20 million euros, the least we should get though is 15 million euros, anything bellow and that is just giving him away for free, giving away a top keeper to supposedly our competition(Barcelona) for pennies on the dollar, its just ridiculous.

Hopefully what happens is we sell Aymen Abdennour for 20 million euros, he's also got a big salary so we get a big boost to our coffers, use those 20 million euros to get Raul Albiol, if we can't get him for a reasonable price or say 12-13 million euros when he only has a year left on his contract, then we should turn to another experienced defender who is established and has played good, but is not on a top team to have his price inflated.

Then of course with the money from Aymen's sale, the money saved on his salary, we should keep Shkodran Mustafi, keep Paco, keep Diego Alves and sell Ryan. I know Diego has a big salary, but he is a top keeper, he's worth every penny we pay him, sure he was injured last season for a big part of it, but he is fit now, he is better than the other two, he is a veteran of Valencia CF, he pays off what he's worth.

I'd sell Ryan and keep Jaume as back-up, Ryan likely has a high salary as well, we know Peter Lim is garbage at negotiating salaries, we know he overpaid ALL of the players he signed, Gomes was overpaid, Enzo was overpaid and still is, Cancelo was overpaid, Negredo was severely overpaid, Moreno is overpaid, etc... He overpaid every one of these players as if we are a premier league club, when we aren't, we didn't even have a sponsor, yet he overpaid all of these players and now that we didn't qualify for the Champions league and still don't have sponsors he is selling them left and right to keep the check book balanced.

Its clear that he made mistake after mistake after mistake and he is still doing them. You can't sell like crazy this close to the start of the season and end of the transfer window to try and desperately balance the check book, you had to do it earlier, the team had to be defined at least a month before and you can't sell top players and bring in weaker alternatives, why sell them in the first place?

The only way to earn money in the long run, to be successful, is to keep building a top team with good players that you don't overpay in the first place, you give them realistic Spanish La Liga salaries and you won't have troubles paying their salaries later on. Once your top players keep on qualifying for the Champions league consistently you'll find good sponsors, they want international attention, they don't want Spanish attention, when Spain has been in a deep recession for the past 5 years. They want international exposure, to the whole European market, not just the local Spanish market, especially knowing its mostly the Valencia region that they would penetrate with Valencia CF sponsorship.

Lets hope things turn out good, though with Lim and his management everything bad is possible, there are even rumors that we'll sell Shkodran Mustafi to Liverpool and get Alberto Moreno Luis Alberto the other way, though this seems unlikely as Liverpool don't really need a new central defender and I don't think they'll want to sell or loan Alberto either, plus with all the transfers they've already done this summer I don't think they have the money to acquire any expensive players, they could probably move in for someone at a cheaper 15 million euros or so, but don't think they can afford another 30 million euros or more for a player like Shkodran Mustafi.

Aymen Abdennour has been a liability last season, so selling him for around 20 million would actually be good for us, get a cash injection, get rid of his high salary and end up keeping Mustafi, but once again the management has to be smart about this, but they've showed a tendency to be really stupid and do the wrong things over and over. Use the money from the sale wisely and bring in a good, experienced and reliable defender on the cheap, there are options out there.

Now if we sell Mustafi and Diego Alves will the team be looking at a relegation battle? Personally I know that this team is capable of beating the expectations in a negative manner and fight for relegation last season was the demonstration that we are capable of just that, even with all of the players we had last season, so its possible but less likely to happen, even if we sell Mustafi and Diego Alves.

I think between Vezo, Santos, Aymen and a new and experienced defender we could have decent, not great, but decent defense that isn't going to ruin us. Certainly not relegation level terrible, but I'd forget about Chmapions league or Europa league football without those two. I'm not even counting Paco to leave, I just don't think it will happen, the club and management are not suicidal, Peter Lim doesn't want an "accident" to happen when he arrives in Valencia, so zero chance to sell Paco this summer.

Now if we get to keep Diego Alves, Mustafi and sell Aymen and get a new defender, Albiol would be the best option, but a good experienced alternative would also be okay, I do think the team has a small chance to challenge for Europa league positions. Its going to be very hard and the team would have to click perfectly, Nani would need to instantly contribute, Moreno would need to keep his great form from preseason and play great each week, Paco would have to repeat the previous seasons in terms of contribution and our updated midfield trio would have to do at least mildly better than last season, which is doable. Also our "new" left back Leto would have to be the new Gaya from two seasons ago and contribute the same amount as Gaya did back then. Then we would have a  chance to get top 6 and enter into the Europa league.

Mario Suarez joins Valencia CF on loan

Mario Suarez transfers to Valencia CF on a one year loan deal, with the option to buy the player at the end of the loan deal. He is a player of Watford football club, but he immediately fell out of favor there after the departure of Quique Sanchez Flores and even with him at the helm he had a rough patch and couldn't get used to the faster pace Premier league football.

I guess Valencia CF don't want to take the chance of buying him and ending up with another flop, so a loan deal seems logical. If he plays well and helps the team achieve its goal of avoiding relegation, possibly better, they can activate the purchase clause, if not no harm done and the player returns to Watford.

In case anyone didn't know Mario Suarez is a defensive midfielder, most famous for playing at Atletico Madrid, being one of their better players in fact for 3-4 seasons, before slowly but surely being replaced there as he fell out of favor with Simeone.

He's had two terrible seasons now, one at Fiorentina which was his first destination after Atletico Madrid and later on at Watford where he again failed to establish himself and with the departure of Flores his fate was sealed. He'll be looking to reignite his career at Valencia CF and convince the club to make his stay at Valencia permanent.

If he can rediscover his Atletico Madrid form, he could be useful for us and he also bring in a level of experience that would be good even outside of the pitch.

If Valencia CF keep Paco, keep Mustafi, keep Diego, sell Abdennour and use that money to bring in Raul Albiol this team could yet have a chance for an Europa league spot, rather than a relegation one.

Paco and Diego Alves to FC Barcelona?

The rumor mill is going crazy in Spain, with all of the Spanish media reporting that Paco Alcacer and Diego Alves will join FC Barcelona and many claiming its already a done deal, with just the details to be worked out between the clubs.

We've known from last season even that the terrible management was looking to offload Diego Alves, but obviously me and everyone else though the huge pressure from fans and the bad results would put some sense in them and have them back off from such idiotic move, but now they are at it again, looking to sell our best goalkeeper, the guy who is a Valencianista, who got one of the biggest ovations in the presentation. They'd rather keep the inconsistent Ryan or the promising, but unproven Jaume. What a joke!

FC Barcelona has supposedly agreed personal terms with Paco Alcacer and the fact that the rumors are going around for almost a week and there has been to denial from Paco himself, means this could be true. The one issue if Paco has agreed personal terms with Barcelona would be the transfer fee they'd have to pay to Valencia CF, which I think Lim would want to make a big profit and not sell him for less than 30 million euros, with Diego Alves probably going for around 10 million euros, knowing Valencia CF always undersells our players, even though Diego realistically should cost 20 million euros and Paco at least 40 million euros at least in the current transfer climate.

If Pogba costs 130 million euros, then surely 40 million for Paco is the least we should get, of course the ridiculous thing would be selling him all together, we have no other options in attack, he has been our best player for the past two seasons, highest goal scorer and highest assistor for two seasons, you don't find that great strikers these days. Sure he is not a creator for himself, but he is a creator for others, he provides assists, provides space for others, we need a striker of his mold.

But yeah, Valencia CF is said to bring in about 40-45 million euros from the sale of these two and acquire FC Barcelona player Sergi Samper.

We still don't know what will happen with Mustafi either, so basically less than 2 weeks from the start of the new season we don't even know what our team will be. Will there be any Valencia players? Will there be any players who've played for more than 2 years at the club? We can't win anything, we can't achieve anything if each year our team changes, if each year we sell our best players, if each year we keep on getting trash. We can't do it, what player has more than 2 years at Valencia CF? Name me more than 3? Now if Diego, Paco and Mustafi leave, we'd have literally NONE, ZERO!!!

We don't have a team anymore, we have patched up a playing group of random players and hope we can achieve decent results, I'm sorry, but this season the goal would be to avoid relegation. I'd be the first one to admit my mistake if not, I don't mind that, but I know this stuff, I've predicted our team's position almost every year with absolute precision, I know what I'm talking about.

Now if we don't sell Paco, Mustafi and Diego, then we can do better than relegation battle, then we can focus on being in the top half of the table, but not more. Forget champions league, forget Europa league, the focus should and will be to finish in the top half of the table with these players staying.

Unfortunately its looking more and more likely how all of these players will leave.

Valencia CF after Mario Suarez and Hernanes

Valencia CF is looking to add two midfielders to their squad after the departures of Andre Gomes, Danilo and recently Javi Fuego. As you can see three midfielders left the team and only one arrived, so Valencia CF is looking to add a bit more depth to that area.

One of those players is Mario Suarez who currently plays for Watford, he is a defensive midfielder best known for his playing time in Atletico Madrid, he's the sort of average player that Valencia CF can get on the cheap who's career is on its last legs and is meant to add depth and some experience for one or two seasons.

Another target in Hernanes who currently plays for Juventus, he hasn't celebrated himself in Juventus and has featured sporadically, coming in mostly as a substitute, but again this is the kind of cheap player that Valencia CF can afford who will add depth to the squad.

Its clear that the idea is to create a team that isn't going to be relegated, stabilize at the top half of the table this season and in 3-4 seasons possibly compete for a Champions league spot. After last season's dance with relegation, the management wants to avoid being relegated this season.

Raul Albiol might be the only possible signing that will actually add quality to the team and boost the team's aspirations this season, to go from avoiding relegation to possibly getting 6th place and entering the Europa league, but at this point its unlikely that Valencia CF is going to be able to sign him and the alternative looks to be Sidnei.

Valencia CF 2-1 Fiorentina

Valencia CF wins the last match of the preseason friendlies against Italian side Fiorentina in the Orange trophy cup. It was once again a hard fought victory and much like last game won in the last minutes of the match. All that said it was clearly an improvement over the previous results, but its clear that Valencia CF still has major issues.

One is that we keep on conceding goals in all matches, against all sorts of opposition, weak and strong, so we really need to improve DRASTICALLY in defense. Then in attack we still can't find reliable goals, we still struggle to score goals and most of the goals come through individual skill, rather than smart build up play or clever chance. So we need to improve our systematic attack, we need a more dynamic formation, with players changing positions, rotating around, mixing it up and new style of play.
We can't rely on the decades old static formation, rigid positioning, pure roles, etc... we need to step into the 21st century and we need dynamic formation, dynamic tactics, positional changes, etc...Teams like Bayern, Juventus and others change 10 different formations in a single match, each field of play brings in a different formation, each positioning of the players a new one, etc... this makes them unpredictable and hard to counter, also harder to study on how to counter them.

Good news is that the boring counter attacking football seems behind us and Valencia CF are playing a much more direct and possession based game, the team is pressuring much higher, something which was a huge issue last season as the team dropped really deep to defend, rather than pressuring immediately in the opposition half.

Once again Lato impressed, Rodrigo Moreno impressed and Alvaro Medran proves to be a quality asset for now, though things can change rapidly in actual real and meaningful matches when La Liga starts, so we'll have to wait and see.

I don't know if Nani is injured, but he hasn't played in the past 2 matches, so maybe fitness issues, maybe the coach is certain of his value and doesn't need to test him out, but its weird how he has barely featured.

Its also weird that Mustafi didn't feature either, even though he's been training with the team for a while now, maybe he has an injury as well I don't know about, or maybe he is already half way through the door at Arsenal and no point to play him when he won't play for us anymore. We'll have to wait and see, but with Peter Lim being seen in England it doesn't look good for the prospect of Mustafi staying.

What are your thoughts about the match, who you thought did the best and who did the worst?

Official: Javi Fuego to Espanyol

Its official, Javi Fuego has been sold to RC Espanyol for a sum of around 2 million euros. Valencia CF were looking to offload the experienced defensive midfielder as his contribution to the team was small last season and even worse during preseason where the coach deemed him surplus to requirements.

Peter Lim was seen in England as its thought he is personally overseeing the sales of Shkodran Mustafi to Arsenal and Aymen Abdennour to Everton. Both these sales would bring in a combined 50 million euros and a huge salary reduction, which means Peter Lim can set aside 20 million euros for new arrivals like Deportivo La Coruna - Benfica defender Sidnei, as well as defensive midfelder Mario Suarez who will cost around 10 million euros to bring, with another 10 million to bring in Sidnei.

Shkodran Mustafi to Arsenal

Shkodran Mustafi is set to leave for Arsenal FC, Arsene Wenger has made it his top priority to sign Shkodran Mustafi as a replacement for his 3 injured central defenders. Arsene Wenger has lost 3 central defenders due to injury which leaves his team exposed for the start of the Premier league and as such he's targeted Valencia's Shkodran Mustafi as his transfer target.

The player has reached a personal agreement with Arsenal CF, but the two clubs are yet to negotiate a transfer fee, with Valencia CF holding out on a 30 million euros fee, while Arsenal are willing to pay 25 million euros with bonuses.

To remind everyone Shkodran Mustafi arrived 2 years ago from Sampdoria for 8 million euros fee, so getting 30 million euros for him would be a huge profit, but on the other hand selling our best and most promising defender. That said if those money are used to bring in Raul Albiol I'd have high hopes again. If we manage to waste those money and bring in another unproven and young defender that needs YEARS to develop I'd be so pissed off, it would actually shatter a huge chunk of my support for this club. I'm sick and tired of Valencia CF being second fiddle club, always the same promises, always one good seasons and two bad, always selling our best players.

I'm also working on an editorial about how Valencia CF keep selling off their veteran players, so they end up being with players who don't care about the club, who don't care about the fans, who don't give their best all the time.

Which of our players have been with Valencia CF for over 5 years, not counting youth teams? Diego Alves is one of the oldest staying players and the garbage management wants to sell him, I'm sick and tired of this bullshit, I'm publicly calling out the the management. You idiots, how dare you, how can you? You are ruining this team, you are clueless, leave our veteran players, keep them in the team, what the hell is your problem?

I'm telling you guys and gals, if we do sell Mustafi and we don't get 30 million at least and we waste that money, some 15 million or more for some garbage, unknown "talent" from a country where they play same football as 4th division in Spain, I'd be so pissed off. I don't even know if I can continue to support the team with players I don't care about. I don't care about most of the Valencia CF players right now, I don't even really know them, the only Valencianistas are basically the former youth players in Paco and Gaya, Diego Alves is a Valencianista and actually Parejo is also one of the oldest players in the squad,a this point Vezo is actually a veteran for Valencia CF, that is how much new players we have who I don't know if they really care about the club.

All the top teams keep and nurture their veterans, FC Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, City, Chelsea, etc... that is why they are successful, they slowly and over time build their team. Where are the Albelda's, Baraja's of the team, Marchena's of the team?

We have reliable Valencianistas players who we can rely on, if not on the field in the dressing room, to make sure everyone gives 100% percent for the club. I'm really pessimistic about the upcoming  season, we were linked with Albiol, Camacho, getting rid of the dead wood like "Negredo, De Paul Piatti, etc... but who did we bring in to replace them, where are our top reinforcements?

Peter Lim wasted close to 200 million on pretty much useless players that we have zero return from. Basically only Gomes turned profit and ended up being good, but we ended up selling him, cheaply at that. Some reports say the nominal fee is only 35 million euros, which is super low, with bonuses it could reach 60 million, but those bonuses are hard to get, its likely that we'd lose out on a decent portion of the money.

Are you guys leaning towards abandoning your support for the team? Tell me in the comments, I'd like to hear from you.

Valencia CF 2-1 Nigeria All Stars

Valencia CF won 2-1 against Nigeria all Stars, but it was a hard fought victory, amidst a very poor first half, lack of chances of goal and once again defensive frailties.

Nigeria's all stars didn't have much possession throughout the whole match and their attacks very rare and far between, but that didn't stop them from scoring a goal from I think it might have been their first sort of real chance. This just goes to show that Valencia CF can easily lose to any team from just 1 attack from the opposition.

Valencia CF had the possession in the first half and although the team wasn't threatening at all apart from the first goal, it still gave the team the initiative, but just one attack of the Nigerian team and it was back to square one, these types of games are so easy to draw or lose in the Spanish league and this is how you lose points, this is how you end up with 1 or 0 points, rather than 3.

Good news is that Alvaro Medran seems like a very good purchase, a steal for 1 million euros and can contribute to the team immediately. Paco Alcacer is quite reliable and with overall good performance every game, though this match he was mostly on the periphery, but not at fault of his own and Rodrigo Moreno has had a terrific preseason, scored an amazing goal late into the game to give Valencia CF the win, a rather deserved win on the basis on what we saw in the second half.

I got to say I disliked the performance in the first half, it was too slow, too static, too predictable, too safe and it didn't bring us a positive result, the second half performance I like much more, especially when all of the changes came in at around 60 minutes. Immediately we had a faster paced play, more dynamic play, more attacking play, a lot more people forward and pressuring in Nigeria's final third, the wings were a lot more active and dangerous, so overall great play from the substitutes and the team as a whole in the second half, especially the last half of the second half.

We also continue to have the left back factory, Lato is turning out to be an amazing left back, his introduction gave so much more attacking presence to the left side and he was constantly buzzing on that left wing, always causing problems and always looking to get in on the action.

Overall I'd say we need to play with the second half team from now on, Fede, Santi Mina haven't convinced too much, I had higher expectations for both, maybe they need more time, especially Fede who might be trying too hard, trying to impress too hard, when you have that feeling you do too much, you start overthinking and doing mistakes and end up being poorer. He needs to just focus on his own game and play his style without pressure.

I thought Parejo was average this match, I couldn't really see his contribution, he slowed down most of our attacks, he still dribbles in dangerous positions, flirting with fire basically and just isn't doing too much, a little bit of possession football, but apart from that I fail to see what he brings to the table. I think we need to sell him to a club other than Sevilla, somewhere abroad, we can get around 15 million for him and for those money bring in another play maker.

What did you guys think of the match, who are the players you think did good and who did poorly and where do you think our strengths and weaknesses are?

Cryatal Palace 3-1 Valencia CF

Yes it is a terrible loss, 3-1, especially going down 3-0 first is always bad, but its still preseason and even though their is only 3 weeks left, its still enough time to a address the issues. Good news is that we don't have a terrible squad, most of the Europe's top teams also have a lot of younger and unproven players, their advantage is that they do have some experienced and established players to guide the rest.

That said Valencia CF need a proper defensive midfielder, I've been reading that they are chasing an attacking midfielder, but we need a defensive midfielder who can also play with the ball at his feet, a technically skilled defensive midfielder, we need proper defensive cover.

If you watched the goals we conceded against Crystal Palace you'll see that its all individual mistakes, we have terrible defense and there is not much more to it. Terrible timing tackles, out of position players, terrible reading of the game, its all there. We need to step up our interest in Raul Albiol is we are serious about challenging for Champion league this season, otherwise its going to quite possibly be another poor year.

Bring in a defender and a defensive midfielder, those are the two reinforcement we need, we have the money from the Gomes sale, so use them now.

This loss shouldn't worry us too much, but it isn't helping alleviate fears either, but again considering Barcelona lost 4-0 to Liverpool today in a friendly, considering Real Madrid had terrible preseasons for the past 2 years, losing to almost every team they played, it shouldn't matter too much this loss, especially considering there we some positives. The attack is good, though every player needs to work on their finishing and final ball. The coach should focus a lot on those two fields.

The midfield also needs to be more dynamic, every time Parejo plays we are too static, too predictable, we need a dynamic midfield that changes formation 4-5 times per minute, we can't be playing with the decades old tactics of static midfield, static formation, the sole striker in attack, etc...

Cinte's Juventus showed us that dynamic formations work, attacking with 3-4 "strikers" when in advanced positions, having 5-6 midfield players when in those positions, and having 9-10 player defending when defending, etc... Every successful club in the past few years has played with a dynamic formation, dynamic team composition, being really unpredictable for the opposition.

Transfer updates and rumours

Firstly, Valencia welcomes its fourth new arrival of the summer window. Right back Martín Montoya has signed from Barcelona. It's a bit of an underwhelming signing as he couldn't even hold down a regular spot at Betis last season and doesn't seem like much of an upgrade on Barragan, who he effectively replaces. On the plus sides, he can also fill in it left back if needed and he comes for free.

Balanced with that are some departures. The most prominent of them is Danilo (Barbosa.) His year's loan had expired. Valencia had the option to buy him for 15 million. While he clearly has some potential, 3 or 4 million would have been the maximum that the club probably would have paid for him and with Braga refusing Valencia's request to take him on loan for another season, he has gone on loan at Benfica instead.

From the B team, Tropi has gone on loan at Alcorcon of Segunda Division for 2 seasons. Like the recently departed Zahibo and Diallo, he's been largely restricted to the occasional sub appearance for the first team in the Copa Del Rey. This will provide him with higher level opponents than he'd face at Valencia Mestalla and, at the end of that period, the club can then see if he's ready for more first team action, or sell him for a higher price. Similarly, Nando, a player who has done well in pre-season has gone on loan for a season at Real Oviedo, also of Segunda Division.

As always, in the summer pre-season, there continue to be rumours of varying degrees of plausibility about players that Valencia may buy or sell. On the buying front, Raul Albiol remains a key target for the club, though we have also been linked with Sidnei, who had a good season for Deportivo. Some clubs have expressed interest in buying Mustafi, but, after giving mixed signals, the club recently declared their resolve to keep the player. The plan still seems to be to try to sell Abdennour and possibly Santos as well and replace with Albiol or another central defender.

The other main issue recently has been the Parejo case. I'll admit, I've always been a fan of the player but he is frustrating. He clearly has quality and is one of the best free kick takers in La Liga, but, for every good game he has, he has at least one where he is anonymous, strolling about the pitch as though he's taking his dog for a walk and, as he's one of the highest paid players in the squad, we are entitled to expect a lot more from him. That said, the club's handling of the situation does raise concerns. Pako publicly humiliated him, by having him train separately from the rest of the squad, whil Suso demanded he apologise to Valencia supporters. While that might be the shot in the arm he needs, it can also be counter-productive. It also seems stupid to wash our dirty clothes in public this way, because, if we do decide to sell him, clubs will hope that they can get away with paying less for a player that is unwanted/out of favour. Sevilla have already been sniffing round. If we do sell him, it also sends a message to players in future that, if they want out, all they have to do is play and train badly and then they can move on. There is no easy solution to the Parejo problem.

Valencia are away at Bournemouth tomorrow, the game is on the usual streaming networks like vipleague.me and rojadirecta.me.

Ilves 1-4 Valencia CF Match Report

Valencia CF played their third preseason friendly yesterday against Finnish football club Ilves. Its worth mentioning that Ilves are playing through their season and therefore are a lot more in form and shaped up.

Anyways Pako started with a mix of youth players and established first teamers, at goal it was Diego Alves, the defense consisted of Cancelo, Santos, Orban and Lato, the midfield had the trio of Enzo, Eugeni and Carlos Soler while the attack consisted of Moreno, Paco and Aridal.

The action started early as Valencia CF took the lead in the 4th minute through Rodrigo Moreno, then barely 10 minutes had passed and Valencia CF scored a second this time through Paco Alcacer, a great goal and the third goal would come in the 22nd minute courtesy of Rodrigo Moreno.

I liked what I saw in the first half, the team was compact, pacey, good interplay, fast wing play and most of all threatening. I had the feeling like they are going to score in every attack and that is something that Valencia CF lacked all of last season. We'd have to see how the team copes against better opposition later on, but I liked the play the team showed in the first half, all of the players had a mark of 6.5 and upward.

Second half brought a lot of changes including Daniel Parejo and Aymen, but the play slowed down and Valencia CF seemed more off balance than in the first half. In fact a lot of waster balls, lost possession and silly mistakes in defense was hallmark of the second half.

We'll have to wait and see how things shape up, but so far I'm more pleased with some of the youth players than our first team regulars.


The two players that performed admirably yesterday were Lato and Eugeni Valderrama, especially coming from the B team and Paco and Moreno also impressed, but I expect that from those players especially against weaker opposition.

Overall pleased with some of the stuff I'm seeing, especially from the B team players, a bit disappointed from some of the first teamers, Parejo seems really clumsy and slow paced, I expected to see a lot more from Santi Mina and I'm not seeing it, Aymen has shows to be a weak link in defense and is still making too many mistakes, etc...

I'm looking forward to the next match which is going to be against AFC Bournemoth on 3rd of August.

Premier league fantasy football

Hey all, once again I'm reactivating my premier league's fantasy league, so everyone who plays join my custom league and compete with your fellow VCF fans.

https://fantasy.premierleague.com/?autojoin-code=529448-156602 or the code

Code to join this league: 529448-156602

 In other news Montoya, FC Barcelona's right back is close to joining Valencia CF on a permanent deal. The player is supposedly going to cost Valencia CF around 8 million euros, which will be shaved off of the transfer fee for Andre Gomes that Barcelona has to pay.

Ibrahim Diallo leaves Valencia, other news

Ibrahim Diallo has left Valencia, rejoining his previous club Eupen of Belgium. Diallo made 4 appearances last season in the Copa Del Rey, but has understandably decided that he's more likely to get regular football in Belgium.

There are a couple of other Mestalla players who may leave soon. Tropi is close to a move to Alcorcón in Segunda. Like Diallo, he's been a bit player at Valencia, making a few appearances as a late substitute. Meanwhile, Zaragoza are interested in signing Nando García, who has never featured in Valencia's first team.

Speaking of the first team, even with the cash from the Gomes transfer, which could ultimately net us 70 million euros, it looks like we'll miss out on Filip Kostić, who looks set to stay in Germany and join Hamburg.

Valencia's second pre-season friendly takes place tonight away to Feyenoord, who should provide a tougher test than Munster did. The game will be available to watch on streaming networks like vipleague and rojadirecta.

Official: FC Barcelona sign Andre Gomes

As I've reported about a week ago, FC Barcelona were stepping up their interest in Valencia's midfielder Andre Gomes and high level sources were saying they offered a total of 60 million euros, in which is included bonuses and stuff like that. Now the deal has been reached and FC Barcelona have purchased Andre Gomes from Valencia CF for a reported fee of around 60 million euros, which included bonuses, so essentially a lower fee, but can grow as much as 60 million, maybe even a bit more.

As I've already reported FC Barcelona see Andre Gomes as the perfect long term replacement of Andres Iniesta, with Iniesta having at least few more seasons, enough to pass on his knowledge to Andre Gomes, who has very similar play style to Iniesta.

Since Valencia CF utterly failed in selling Alvaro Negredo and Enzo Perez, two very expensive flops, the club was forced to loan out Negredo for a year so they can save on his extremely high wages, while no one bid nearly enough for Enzo Perez with some smaller fansites claiming a bid was made from a Portuguese club of around 12 million euros, clearly not enough for Valencia CF to sell Enzo and suffer a huge loss.

Since Valencia CF wants to bring in few more reinforcements, but doesn't have the money to do so they had to sell Andre Gomes. I've already written about that as well, explaining how in order to get their way, the club would have to sell Gomes, keep Enzo, loan out Negredo and with the huge money from Gomes sale get our targets.

So there you have it ladies and gentlemen, FC Barcelona sign Andre Gomes from Valencia CF for a reported fee of around 60 million euros, with the cash injection Valencia CF will be able to acquire its targets like Raul Albiol, Ignacio Camacho and Filip Kostic. Valencia CF needs to pay around 15 million for Raul Albiol, about the same for Camacho and Kostic, so overall a 45 million expenditure, all of which will be covered by the sell of Andre Gomes.

Rodrigo De Paul sold to Udinese ; Valencia beat Munster in first preseason friendly

Rodrigo de Paul is the latest casualty of "Operación salida" (clear out operation) which aims to reduce the wage bill and free up cash for new players to revamp the squad. The winger has been sold to Udinese for €3million. He was the last signing of Pizzi, who signed him in May 2014 for €4.7 million on a 5-year contract to replace the departing Eduardo Vargas, who had been on loan with us, but we lacked the cash to sign. The relatively high release clause (40 million) was a sign that Valencia were hoping for good things, but ultimately it didn't happen.

In Valencia's first game of the 2014/15 season, with Valencia losing 0-1 to Sevilla, DePaul came on as a 66th minute sub to replace Alcacer, a sign that he was intended to fill the Vargas role of secondary striker. The omens were already bad, as he was sent off after being on just a minute. He scored the winner for Valencia in the 2-1 win in the CopaDelRey over Rayo and scored his only other goal in La Liga for the club in a 1-1 draw at Bilbao in which we were robbed of three points by awful refereeing.

In 2015/16 De Paul was frozen out by Nuno, with the rumour being that it was because he had sided with Negredo against the coach. He made a return under Neville but failed to convince and was loaned out to Argentina where he had a poor spell. DeP was a fan favourite, so a lot of people will be disappointed. Ultimately, though, he had his chance under 3 Valencia coaches and also on loan and failed to make the cut and 2 goals in 42 games is not that impressive. So with Valencia already being well covered on the wings, maybe it's for the best.

In other news today, Negredo's loan to Middlesbrough is finally confirmed. Boro will pay all of his 7 million a year salary, but the option to buy doesn't seem to be there.

Lastly, Valencia kicked off their pre-season campaign with a 4-2 win at Preussen Munster. With no live feed available, Superdeporte's text commentary gives a rundown of the game. The highlights are available on Valencia's official YouTube channel (link here and here.) Valencia basically went for a mix of first team and Valencia Mestalla players, with a starting line up of Ryan, Lato-Vezo-Orban-Cancelo, Fuego-Parejo-Valdemarra, Nando-Alcacer-Rodrigo. 19 (!) subs were named with 13 used. Scorers for us were Paco, Rodrigo and Mestalla player Aridai Cabrera. With so many changes and the game interrupted by poor weather, it's hard to know what to make of the result, but conceding 2 goals against a German third level team is a bit worrying and a sign that Pako still has a lot of work to do with Valencia's defence.

Pablo Piatti loaned to RCD Espanyol

Valencia CF have reached an agreement with RCD Espanyol to loan out Pablo Piatti for one year with an option to buy at the end of the loan deal.

Pablo Piatti was one of the several players that Valencia CF wanted to get rid of after poor performances from last season, so while they couldn't sell the player to any club, this is the next best solution.
Ultimately he's always performed hot and cold, so ultimately he failed to find consistency in his performance and this cost him.

Valencia CF was looking to bring Filip Kostic from Stuttgart, but their unrealistic high price for the player put a dampener on  potential deal. Right now the coaching staff and sporting director are re-evaluating if Rodrigo De Paul should be kept and used on the left wing along with either Mina or Fede.

Since Nani arrived as the first reinforcement this season and he is most likely going to play on the left wing, probably cutting in frequently as an additional striker, only the left wing is open and there are 3 players vying for that position right now, Santi Mina, Fede and De Paul.

Chelsea and Bayern after Shkodran Mustafi

Latest reports says that Chelsea FC are interested in acquiring Skhodran Mustafi from Valencia CF. Chelsea FC are in desperate need of defensive reinforcements and their new manager Conte sees Skhodran Mustafi as the perfect long term replacement for John Terry.

They are supposedly willing to bid up to 30 million euros to land the defender in their ranks, with Valencia CF possibly being open to such a move as that amount of money would start the gears again on bringing some of the wanted reinforcements like Camacho, Albiol and others.

Another potential suitor for Mustafi are Bayern Munich who are also in need of some defensive reinforcements as their biggest weakness last season has shown to be the defense, so getting someone like Skhodran Mustafi who is part German, who played in Germany and who is a world cup winner, regular national for Germany and still young and prosperous defender, that is the type of player Bayern could move for and strengthen their defense with.

Barragán joins Middlesbrough

As I said a few posts ago, things are moving thick and fast in the transfer market. Antonio Barragán is the latest departure, officially announced as Middlesbrough signing. He wasn't one of the original names on the "blacklist", announced in late May, of players that Valencia were looking to sell in the summer, but was added to it in mid-June.

Barragán joined us for €1.5 million from recently relegated Valladolid in August 2011 and played 140 games for us, scoring twice, a pile driver away to Ludogorets in the Europa league and the equaliser against Real Madrid in our 2-1 win in January 2015. Ultimately, he always seemed to be competing with other players for the right back spot and perhaps that's a sign that he wasn't quite up to the standard that Valencia needed, turning in a number of fairly average performances last season.

His transfer to Middlesbrough is a bit of a surprise and even fans of that club are questioning the wisdom of it. Maybe taking one of our unwanted players was part of a compromise Valencia worked out for the imminent loan of Negredo? In the end that's not really our problem. We've got around €3 million from the sale and can look at upgrading a position that's often looked a bit suspect. Thanks and good luck to Barragán.

Official: Antonio Barragan joins Middlesbrough F.C.

Its official, Antonio Barragan has joined Middlesbrough F.C. on a three year deal that would see him rack in around 3 million euros per year. Antonio Barragan's transfer fee is said to be around 3-4 million euros, small fee that Valencia CF agreed as they look to lower the wage bill at the club and bring in more new players.

Now that Barragan is gone, Valencia CF are a player short for the right back position, so look for Valencia CF to enter into the market for a new right back, with latest reports mentioning Martin Montoya as a potential signing.

La Liga 2016/17 fixtures announced

The full list of La Liga fixtures for the coming season has been published here. For Valencia, as with last season, it looks like a relatively easy start, with the first six games being

Las Palmas (H)
Eibar (A)
Betis (H)
Atl. Bilbao (A)
Alaves (H)
Leganes (A)

Last season, the struggles in the early games set the tone for our season, with low confidence in the team and the burgeoning Nunoveteya calls getting louder. It's therefore absolutely crucial that we do well (at least 13 points and ideally 15+) from those games to build momentum, as October then brings the visits of Atletico Madrid and Barcelona to the Mestalla.

Valencia finish the season with a home game against Espanyol, an away game at Osasuna and a potentially crucial local derby at home to Villarreal in the last game.

Alvaro Negredo loaned to Middlesbrough F.C

Alvaro Negredo has reached a personal agreement with Middlesbrough F.C about his salary and is said to fly in the next 24 hours to England to officially complete his loan move there. Depending on which report you read there is a purchase clause in the deal between Valencia CF and Middlesbrough F.C, but some reports say its optional, while others say its required purchase.

We'll have to find out in a year I guess, but for now this is good news as Valencia CF will save a ton of money on Negredo's salary.

Also Antonio Barragan is said to be close to joining Middlesbrough F.C as well in dual move for them with Valencia CF. The fee is reportedly about 5 million euros and Barragan's salary is supposedly to be in the region of 2.5-3 million euros.

Official: Yoel loaned to Eibar

Valencia CF goalkeeper Yoel has been loaned out to Eibar. No one showed enough interest in the goalkeeper for Valencia CF to sell him, so he goes on yet another loan this season. Eibar have a buy-out clause at the end of the loan and they can get the player for 1 million euros.

Valencia sign Álvaro Medrán

Things are starting to move in the transfer market. Valencia have signed Álvaro Medrán on a 4-year contract from Real Madrid for a fee of just under 1 million euros. Valencia had been tracking the player since March and Madrid had been reluctant to part with the player, and wanted him to go on loan, but the player himself apparently forced the issue. However, Madrid have retained a buy back option. 22 years old, Medrán spent last season on loan at Getafe, though injuries restricted his appearances. He has decent promise and is a Spain under-21 international, but ultimately this buy raises more questions than it answers. He looks more of an attacking midfielder than a defensive one in the Fuego or Danilo mould.

So while Danilo has left the club, who exactly does Medrán replace? There are no buyers for Enzo. Parejo was one of 4 players (along with Paco, Gaya and Mina) modelling the club's new kit for the 2016/17 season. The only possibility seems to be Andre Gomes, but his high price tag has meant the club are short of suitors and he faded towards the end of Euro 2016. Barcelona have been mentioned, but apparently only have 35m euro left to spend this transfer window and it's unlikely Valencia will let him go for that, even if they wanted to spend all 35m on him which doesn't seem that it will happen.

This signing does seem to show that Valencia have given up on Amadou Diawara, as the club are understandably unwilling to pay the 20m that Bologna want for an 18-year-old and he now looks likely to sign for another Italian side, probably Roma.

What do you think of the Medrán signing?

Barcelona to offer 60 million for Andre Gomes

FC Barcelona is stepping up interest for Andre Gomes as they are looking to strengthen their squad ahead of the new season. Barcelona coach Luis Enrique is not pleased with Arda Turan's contribution, so he is looking to offload him and bring in a more attacking option, someone who could also be a long term solution to Andre Iniesta as he isn't getting any younger.

Andre Gomes as such is seen as the perfect replacement for Turan and someone who can slowly take over the Iniesta role. Valencia CF have been resisting offers of 40 and 50 million euros, but with the inability to sell either Alvaro Negredo or Enzo Perez, the team is forced to sell Gomes in order to get an injection of cash so they can bring in the wanted reinforcements.

60 million euros will go a long way towards bringing few new players, assuming some of the "dead wood" is offloaded first. The club has 28 players right now and if they don't offload at least 4-5 players it will inflate the wage expenditure to unsustainable levels. One of the biggest problems is Alvaro Negredo who's 3+ millions salary per year is too high to sustain, considering his minimal contribution.

Good news is that Pablo Piatti is talking with Espanyol about joining them, while Yoel has supposedly agreed terms with Eibar. So those are two players close to leaving, which is a start, but there needs to be several more departures.

Wilifried Zahibo leaves Valencia

Another departure to report. Wilifried Zahibo's contract had expired and he has decided to sign for Segunda side Gimnàstic Tarragona. Zahibo signed for Valencia from Fuenlabrada in January 2014 but spent most of the time in the reserves. He did see some action last season, starting 2 league games and playing five games in the Copa del Rey, one of them as substitute, and scoring his only goal for the club in the Copa game against Granada, though scoring an own goal in the game versus Las Palmas. Ultimately, while he did okay, he never looked likely to develop into anything more than a backup player who would be on the fringes of the side at best, so it's probably best for both the club and him that he continues his career elsewhere, where he will likely get more games. Good luck to him.

Official: Nani joins Valencia CF

Its official, Valencia CF has signed Nani as the summer's first reinforcement. Nani spent a one season at Turkish club Fenerbahce where he reinvigorated his career as he scored 12 goals and provided 13 assists. He further established himself in this years Euro 2016, where he has been the standout Portuguese performer.

Nani has signed a 3 years deal with Valencia CF that would keep him at the club until 2019. He is 29 years old, but for most players the most productive years are between 28 and 32, when enough experience and skill mix.

Valencia CF have reportedly paid the 8.5 million euros release clause to purchase the player and his salary is expected to be around 2 million euros per season, plus bonuses.

Andre should be sold, Enzo should stay

Valencia CF coach and administration were determined to offload some of the "dead wood" and raise some money so they can bring in new reinforcements, but unfortunately no one wants "dead wood". Valencia CF have been unable to sell Pablo Piatti, Enzo Perez and Alvaro Negredo, Negredo had few offers coming his way, but all from clubs he doesn't want to play at.

Since the situation is such as it is, Valencia CF staff should work swiftly to remedy the situation and one solution is to sell Andre Gomes. I know he is a huge potential, I know he is possibly one of the best attacking midfielders if given enough time and build a team around him, but we need to think for the present as well, not just the future.

Chelsea FC, Barcelona, Juventus and other teams are interested in the player, some offers were said to have been in the region of 40 million euros, plus players, so essentially almost 50 million, we should sell him, get the money to bring in our wanted reinforcements and keep Enzo Perez. With a new training plan, new training regiment and better physical care of the player he can avoid injury and if he does so consistently he can give us good performances. He is not a bad player, but frequent injuries can harm him rhythm and form, preventing him from giving 100% percent for us when he plays.

As far as Negredo even a loan deal wouldn't be bad if the other team is willing to fully pay his salary and I believe there are few English teams that could take the player if offered on a loan deal. He can even possibly rediscover his form in England and we could always sell him next year.

We are one month in the summer and no reinforcements have arrived at Valencia CF, with no players being sold either, so we have a huge squad, but with the players that are unwanted. To start moving things forward Valencia CF needs to come to a compromise and that compromise is to keep Enzo Perez, sell Andre Gomes for huge sums, forget about the dream of selling Negredo and recouping some of the wasted money on him, loan him out to a team that can pay his whole salary and if he regains his form they can sell him next year and still recoup some money on him.

We technically just need one left winger if De Paul is to be sold or loaned out again and of course a good defensive midfielder. The year before Javi Fuego did awesome work for us, but this year his years showed and the next season they will show even more, we need a proper and quality player on that position, that will fix most of our defensive problems, proper DM is what the team needs.

Enzo Perez likely to stay

Valencia CF have been looking to offload the expensive midfielder all summer long, but unfortunately his high transfer fee, high salary and injury riddled season have put a dampener on those plans. It seems no one is willing to spend around 25 million euros for the midfielder considering he hasn't celebrated himself the past two years in Valencia CF, so teams are afraid to take an expensive chance with Enzo Perez.

Enzo Perez came to Valencia CF as a huge reinforcement, but while he's given some good performances when on the pitch, his issue has been the injuries, he is just too much injury prone and has spend more time recuperating and healing than playing, thus Valencia CF management are planing on keeping Enzo Perez at Valencia CF with the plan on renegotiating a reduced salary for him, something he is unlikely to accept though.

Valencia CF could therefore have no option, but to keep him as is and hope and pray that he has a better and less injury riddled season.

Nani to Valencia CF is almost a done deal

Valencia CF have supposedly reached a personal agreement with Nani and are said to be very close to finalizing the deal with Fenerbahce to bring the player to Valencia CF. Good news is that Fede will be back from his vacation shortly and arrive in Valencia CF where he will be given a honest chance to prove himself. Pako is said to be a fan of the player and wants him to stay, but it will ultimately depend on how Fede utilizes his chance.

On the other hand Nani has impressed at the Euro 2016 and many clubs are starting to become interested in the player, fortunately Valencia CF moved first and are close to finalizing a 8 million euros deal.

Valencia CF wants to bring Nani

Valencia CF are looking to bring Nani to their squad after an amazing performance by the player for Portugal in the Euro 2016. Nani currently plays for Turkish club Fenerbahche and is looking to leave this summer with Valencia CF providing the perfect opportunity for him to do just that.

Before joining Fenerbahce he played 8 years in Manchester United, firstly as a winger and later on as a full back as well. Valencia CF is set to offer in the region of up to 8 million euros for the player, though with his Euro 2016 performances not going unnoticed the price could easily rise.

Finally I want to address my previous post about the Brits voting to leave the European Union. Firstly I didn't vote on it, I didn't make the decision, but I do agree personally with it and I won't change my mind. You are free to disagree with my opinion, with my post as with any, freedom of speech and thought where its still allowed at least. This is not a political blog obviously, I don't see what's political about the vote, I see it as ideological determination and I would congratulate on any people choosing to self determine. If you disagree with the vote, take it up with the voters.

Congrats to the Brits

I want to congratulate the British people on voting to leave the European Union. Personally I think the European Union had become the new Soviet Union, trying to force fed different nations, cultures, religions, languages, traditions, understandings and behaviors and mold them into one uniform people, lacking the diversity that makes each of us special.

Also if anyone proclaims to support and want democracy, this is it, the people the have spoken and voted to leave the political union of unelected bureaucrats. The European Union has for years now been a body of unelected, non representative bureaucrats who earn millions for literally force feeding their own lifestyles unto others.

There are all sort of theories what this will do to the football policies, but personally I think most of the stuff we see is scaremongering, Britain is in Europe the CONTINENT, they are Europeans, not being in a political union doesn't change that fact of life. So any notion that players from Britain won't count as European is absurd.

Tottenham and PSG interested in Abdennour

Valencia CF have wanted to sell Aymen Abdennour since the summer begun, and now they might have the chance to do so. With Unai Emery set to take over at PSG he's already asked for few reinforcements to boost his already powerful and successful squad. As a former coach of Valencia CF he's been following the situation with Valencia CF transfers and apparently thinks he can get the best out of Aymen Abennour.

Another interested club seems to be Tottenham who are desperate to strengthen their leaky defense so they can mount another challenge for the Premier league title next season. Tottenham is also coached by a Spanish coach, with Mauricio Pochettino supposedly impressed with what he's seen from the defender and his big physique also fits in with English football.

Would you like to see Aymen sold and with Raul Albiol now a more distant possibility, who would you like to see replace him?

Andre Gomes set to leave Valencia CF

With four clubs chasing after Andre Gomes it seems his days are numbered at Valencia CF. The club wanted to sell some of the dead wood so to speak and trim the squad a bit, but so far barely anyone wants those players, with some of the best offers being loan requests.

Since Valencia CF wants to bring in 4 to 5 new players and time is quickly running out they are forced to basically part ways with Andre Gomes to get the cash required to purchase new players. There are four clubs after Andre Gomes with Chelsea FC, Manchester United, Juventus and even FC Barcelona is interested in acquiring his services, his price could easily reach the zone where Valencia CF would be willing to part ways with him. So far Juventus have sent an offer of 40 million euros plus a player from their team, but Valencia CF rejected the offer and demanded at least 60 million euros in pure money.

With Manchester United, Chelsea and others getting really interested in the player, its likely some of those teams will bid 60 million euros or more. Andre Gomes is considered one of the brightest prospects in Europe, almost on the same level as Pogba, but Pogba's price being close to 80 million euros, most clubs are turning to Gomes.

Confirmed players Valencia CF wants to bring

Raul Albiol is the primary target for Valencia CF, the club has been trying to get him for months now and has a personal agreement with the player, though the negotiations with his club Napoli have been unproductive so far, but Valencia CF still has at least one more round of negotiations to reach an agreement.

This is a confirmed player that Valencia CF want to buy and will be hoping to add to the squad in the next few weeks.

Ignacio Camacho is the secondary target for Valencia CF, the club has identified several players to leave and among them in Enzo Perez who's salary is quite large, but so far he's been unable to justify his fee and salary, so Valencia CF is looking at Ignacio Camacho who currently plays for Malaga CF as a defensive midfielder and sees him as the perfect replacement for Enzo Perez.
Valencia CF have approached the player and club, with  Ignacio Camacho being open to a move to Valencia CF, while negotiations with Malaga CF are still ongoing and there is an issue about the transfer fee for the player, though negotiations are in the early stages and there are at least 2 more meetings where terms could be negotiated, though Malaga CF would probably only be forced to sell if the player's 18 million euros buy-out clause is triggered.

Alternative to Ignacio Camacho is Amadou Diawara, but only if Valencia CF can't acquire Camacho. Negotiations have started with the player and his club about a potential transfer, but again Valencia CF are more so inquiring about the player and the possibility of leaving, rather than mounting a full out purchase.

Filip Kostic is the third and final confirmed player that Valencia CF want to bring to their ranks. Valencia CF first option was Cheryshev, but the negotiations with the player and his club have been tough and some of the demands unrealistic that Valencia CF have given up on the player and have looked elsewhere for options, identifying Filip Kostic as a great alternative to Cheryshev. Valencia CF have already told Pablo Piatti to find a new club, while Rodrigo De Paul who returns from loan is also out of the plans for the coach and sporting director, so Valencia CF are essentially left with no options on the left flank. So far the negotiations with the player have been positive, but once again Valencia CF has stumbled across a bridge wall in the negotiations with VfB Stuttgart, who are another club overvaluing their player and trying to get unrealistically high amount of money considering their situation.