Sporting Lisbon interested in Ricardo Costa

Its not a secret that Ricardo Costa is going to leave this summer, as Valencia's and Ricardo's interests are the same. Ricardo Costa has said he is likely to leave and it seems as though he may find his next club in his country Portugal at Sporting Lisbon.

Real Betis was also interested in Ricardo Costa earlier and may still be interested, other possibilities would be Lazio who've shown interest for the player last summer.

Whatever the case Ricardo Costa is very likely to leave this summer and the only way for him to stay if he doesn't have any offers, which is unlikely to be the case as there are few teams interested in him right now.

Angel Dealbert to leave Valencia CF?

Angel Dealbert has been offered a contract extension by Valencia CF and only the details are left up to negotiation, but he is right now considering offers from other clubs and has said he'll make his decision closer to the end of the season.

Dealbert has not featured too much for Valencia CF this season, as Rami and Ruiz have been the standard duo. The times when he played he actually did a great job and was very reliable. Dealbert is also one of the least paid players at Valencia CF which is another reason the club wants to keep him.

Teams like Levante, Espanyol, Bilbao and few others are interested in the player and would like to get him in their ranks and the price of 2 million euros is affordable to most of these teams.

Valencia CF looking at Andre Villas Boas as Emery's replacement

With Andre Villas Boas being sacked by Chelsea FC the media frenzy is on and there are many reports on who might Andre coach next. There are strong reports that Valencia CF top branch are interested in Andre Villas Boas and see him as the perfect replacement for Unai Emery who is likely to leave in the summer, unless he gets to the Europa League finals.

Rumor has it Andre Villas Boas fancies Valencia CF and would accept a position over Inter, but the main problem is money as he requires about 3 million salary, something Llorente isn't quite ready to offer yet.

One of the advantages with Valencia CF is that he is not going to be under pressure to win the league and will have the time and support to improve the team. He is also vary of taking over in this time of the season and would much easier accept a job in the summer.

Valencia CF right back alternatives

Since Valencia CF haven't agreed terms with Ajax over the transfer fee for Van der Wiel, Valencia CF is looking elsewhere with latest reports linking Lille's right back Mahtieu Debuchy to Valencia CF and the player himself confirmed the reports, but saying he is currently focused on Lille.

That can easily change though as Rami can insert some influence on him and persuade him to join Valencia CF, he is also the cheaper option to Van Der Wiel and is believed to be released for 8 million euros, the amount that Valencia CF is currently offering Ajax.

Another player the club follows is Jorge Fucile who played for Porto and was a big part of their league wins in Portugal and the Europa League last season. He is currently playing for Santos on loan from Porto and is likely to want to move to Valencia CF after being thrown out of the squad by Porto's new manager.

Martin Montoya is another player that has been linked for over a year now with Valencia CF. He plays for Barcelona B squad and Valencia CF is keeping close tabs on him, although he would be the last option if given the choice.

Granada CF vs Valencia CF - Match Preview

Granada vs Valencia CF

Stadium: Camp Nou
4th, March, 2012; 18:00CET
26th matchday, La Liga
Expected Attendance: 22.000

  Coaches: Abel Resino and Unai Emery

Granada CF is based in the same named town Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. The club finished fifth in Segunda, but by winning the promotion playoffs they were promoted to La Liga.
The 2010/11 La Liga Play-Off took place in June 2011. This was Segunda's first season with purely promotion play-offs since 1986–87 and the first time play offs had been used for movement between the first and second tier since 1998-99. This new promotion phase (known as Promoción de ascenso) was introduced to determine the third team which promoted to 2011/12 La Liga. Teams placed between 3rd and 6th position, excluding reserve teams, took part in the promotion play-offs.

Grenada CF has recently been on a good streak with 3 wins out of the last 5 matches and these 3 wins have helped push Granada CF out of the relegation danger zone and right now Granada CF is 16th position on the table with 28 points, 4 more from the nearest relegation club.

Their top scorer is Inigo Lopez with only 4 goals and Franco Jara leading in the assists department with 4 of them.

Granada CF squad: to be announced...

Valencia CF on the other hand is coming off a rather miserable week with a lot of speculation about the possibility of Unai Emery leaving and with good reason as the loss to Sevilla at home was the cherry on the top of a whole new 2012 year with only 1 win in the last 8 matches, 4 draws and 3 losses. In other terms Valencia CF has lost a total of 17 points in the new year and there has been doubts about whether Unai Emery can lead the team to third position once again this season.

Valencia CF still has a decent cushion of points from the other teams and Levante I don't consider particularly threatening, but beating Granada CF today is crucial or else someone would need to push the red panic button and things would go into a bad place.

Some good news is that the team is full and no other injuries apart from the known long terms ones of Canales, Banega and Miguel, but even Hedwiges Maduro has been training for some time now and while I don't expect him to feature against Granada CF he can return soon.

Other good news is that Roberto Soldado had an amazing international performance for Spain, scoring his first hat-trick for Spain in his return to the Spanish team after a break of 5 years. Jordi Alba played great for Spain as well and other players like Mehmet Topal and Adil Rami had good performances for their national teams.

Valencia CF squad: 

• Goalkeepers: Alves, Guaita
• Defenders: Bruno, Barragán, V.Ruiz, Dealbert, Rami, Mathieu, J.Alba.
• Midfielders: Albelda, Topal, Tino Costa, Feghouli, Pablo, D. Parejo, Piatti.
• Forwards: Jonas, Aduriz, Soldad.

Technical Details Valencia CF (probable setups):
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Line-up: Guaita; Barragan, Dealbert, Ruiz, Mathieu; Albelda, Parejo; Pablo, Jonas, Piatti; Soldado.
Tactics: High defensive line, all round pressure, interchangeable attacking trio, mixed passing.

Technical Details Granada CF (probable setups):
Formation: 4-4-2
Line-up: Roberto; Diakathe, Siqueria, Nyom, Mainz; Yebda, Hurtado, Geijo, Benitez; Uche, Jara.
Tactics: Low defensive line, park the bus, crosses and counter attacks.

Result Prediction:
Granada CF 0-2 Valencia CF
Unai Emery is likely to give the likes of Alba, Rami, Feghuoli and Topal a break from the international duty and place them on the bench, although with Soldado's form at Spain he is likely to start and players like Pablo, Dealbert and Albelda starting. I think that Valencia CF will take the match 2-0, but only if everyone is playing 100% and Tino Costa or Parejo have a good match, especially Tino if he starts.

Betting odds:

Valencia	1.40
draw	5.30
Granada	12.00

Jordi Alba extends contract with Valencia CF to 2016

Radio Nou just announced that Valencia CF and Jordi Alba have reached an agreement about a new contract that will have Jordi Alba stay until the year 2016 at Valencia CF.

Jordi Alba and Valencia CF have been negotiating for weeks now about a contract extension and the negotiation was recently intensified with Barcelona and other clubs increasing their interest in him.

Its said that Alba's agents and Valencia CF staff will meet again to conclude the final detail of the contract and that is the transfer fee which is supposed to be in the region of about 20 million euros.

Valencia CF players on international duty (February)

Spain:
Jordi Alba started and played the full 90 minutes for Spain and he had a great match providing 2 assists and never troubled at the back.
Roberto Soldado was introduced at the start of the second half as he came on for Llorente and pretty much immediately scored. He scored a second goal soon after his first as well, got a penalty after being brought down as he found himself alone in front of goal after passing the goalkeeper. He missed the penalty, but went on to redeem himself and scored a hat-trick in the final minutes of the match.
This was an amazing performance by Soldado as he made the case to be included for the Euro 2012.

Brazil:
Diego Alves was called in for Brazil, but sat out their match against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Cesar had a poor match though and Alves chances of becoming the first keeper are very big.
Jonas Goncalves literally was put in the game in the last minute.

Turkey:
Mehmet Topal started and played the full 90 minutes for Turkey and was one of their better players, but unfortunately for him Turkey lost 2-1 to Slovakia.

Portugal:
Ricardo Costa did not feature for Portugal and its highly unlikely if he'll make the squad for Euro 2012.

France:
Adil Rami played the full 90 minutes for France and had a good match with few decent interventions. Good, but not great. He still has a lot to learn and much to improve.