Player Contracts and Transfer Value

Valencia is not a stranger to selling its best players every year as you all know. Here are some names that should be familiar

Name                                          Price Sold                                          To

David Villa                                   40 million euros                                 Barcelona

David Silva                                   35 million euros                                 Manchester City

Juan Mata                                    30 million euros                                 Chelsea

Isco                                             6 million euros                                   Malaga

Jordi Alba                                    14 million euros                                  Barcelona

Roberto Soldado                          30 million euros                                  Tottenham

Now, I'm sure the club valued all of these players at a lot more than they were sold for, because I certainly did. I mean Gareth Bale's price tag now is as much as the first three combined and certainly no-one would think to trade Bale for Villa, Silva and Mata is fair. Especially with the cases of Isco and Jordi Alba, the prices they were sold were laughable. I mean Isco is now valued at 30 million and Alba at 25 million euros. 

Anyways, that's the past which you all heard of a million times already, let's talk about the present and why I mentioned this.

Recently, clubs have been interested in our next best player, Argentine footballing wizard Ever Banega. One of these clubs was Southamption FC of the English Premier League. The English club contacted Valencia to inquire about the player. Now if I was the one being contacted, I would have said, "NOT FOR SALE" and stopped contact. However, what shocked me was that Valencia was willing to listen and gave them their valuation of the player. Was it 30 million? No. 25 million? No. How about 20 million? Not even that. The price given by Valencia was 15 million euros. It's beyond belief. Thankfully, Southamption saw the price too high and didn't go for it but this is serious. Who would give that valuation for a player of that quality and at his prime? Seriously...If Isco is 30 million euros, Banega should be around that range too. 

What should be worrying is that the same things we have seen happen might happen to other players too. I checked Viera's price value on "transfermarkt.co.uk" today. What is the value of this really talented young player? 8 million? No. 6 million? No. Only 3 million. Who wants to sell Viera for 3 million? I think it whoever would is not in their right mind. The same could happen to Bernat, Fede, Ibanez, Gaya, Feghouli, and Canales to name a few. It's is clear that part of the problem of debt is selling for these ridiculous prices. The transfer prices and release clauses must be fixed in the contracts. I'm certain nobody wants to see players of this quality leave every year.

Feel free to let us know what you think below :) 

AMUNT VALENCIA!!!!

Valencia CF first team

Djukic has given all the players a chance to show off their skills and prove themselves worthy. We have seen the new players, Romeu, Fuego, Michel and Postiga, in action. We have also observed the youngsters - Fede, Bernat, Ibanez and Alcacer. Some players were tested in different positions like Bernat (LB and LW), Mathieu (LB and CB), Viera (LW, CAM) and Jonas (LW, CAM) to name a few. The debate for who the starting goalkeeper should be has also been reopened as both goalkeepers impressed in the pre-season fixtures. Now, Djukic has a big decision in establishing the first team for Valencia CF. We will see what his pre-season experiments lead to in the match against Malaga.

Based on the matches I've seen this what I think the starting line-up should be:

Feel free to tell us what you think / post what you think the starting line-up should be!!

AMUNT VALENCIA!!!!

Pablo Piatti on the way to Stade Rennes

Pablo Piatti seems to be the next player on his way out and is now rumoured to the very close to the French club, Stade Rennes, lead by former Real Sociedad manager, Philippe Montanier. While we discussed that he is a decent player, he seems to see that he is not included in Djukic's plans. Ukrainian club Metalist has already offered him a way out for 5 million euros but the player refused moving to Ukraine and insisted remaining in Spain. Since the only clubs in Spain's first division that have shown interest in him cannot afford to pay his wages, about 2.7 million euros annually, he sees no other way out than a move to France. Valencia wants to accommodate the player by allowing him to leave to the Stade Rennes and in turn also use the cash to help fund a move for a striker to replace Soldado. However, the French club is offering 2.5 million euros for Piatti. While the club is willing to sell for that amount, I am upset that this amount is no where near the amount invested in him (if you remember, he was bought from Almeria for 7.5 million euros). Valencia is probably willing to go through with this anyway, because they don't want to pay his high wages. So by selling him, Valencia not gain 2.5 million euros but also save on his wages. Still quite upsetting, but if it has to be done for the sake of a promising striker, it's worth it. Let's just hope the striker meets and surpasses our expectations.

Feel free to let us know what you think in the comments below. 

AMUNT VALENCIA!!!

New Striker Could Depend on Outputs

The discussion of who is going to be the striker to fill the gap left by Soldado has been going on for quite a while. The club is looking for a different type of striker, one with pace and technical ability to help with the counter-attacking style. The striker should ideally be 24-28 years old and cost no more than 10 million euros (the available budget for a striker). Additional requirements are versatility, being complementary to other players on the team and someone with proven international and club-level quality. The most recent players to be linked with Valencia are Atletico's Adrian Lopez and PSG star Jeremy Menez. Both seem to be attainable for the price range required and are deemed to meet the requirements.

Adrian Lopez: 25 year old, capped twice for the Spain International team. He can play as a center forward or out on the wings. While many compare his style of play to that of David Villa, he had a disappointing season last year for Atletico and has fallen down the pecking order with David Villa, newly signed Leo Baptistao and Diego Costa all ahead of him. Atletico previously turned an offer down from Valencia for him but might be tempted to selling him for the sake of reinforcing the other areas of the team. He has 10 goal in 68 games for Atletico Madrid. You can watch his playing style below:

Jeremy Menez: 26 year old, French International. An ambidextrous (comfortable with both feet) player with blistering pace, quick feet, great vision and an eye for goal. He can also play as a center forward, or on either flank. A natural playmaker who has also fallen down the pecking order with the likes of Ibrahimovic, Cavani, Lavezzi and Pastore all ahead of him. Right now, he seems to be returning from an injury but should be available at the beginning of the league. He has 12 goals in 63 games for PSG. You can watch his playing style below:

However, before the club attempts to buy anyone, it seems that it will focus on the output operation. Cissokho (to Sunderland / Liverpool) and Piatti (to Rennes / Olympiacos) are the names linked with a move away from the club. Rami (to Tottenham / Napoli / Fiorentina) has also recently returned to being a target for transfer rumours as well. With the cash gained from sale/loan of those players, the club hopes to attain a bigger budget to widen the range of players that it can obtain.

Feel free to let us know what you think in the comments below.

AMUNT VALENCIA!!!

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Valencia CF 2-1 Olympiacos CFP Match Report

Valencia wins the first trophy of the season. Although not a major trophy by any standards, it will provide a confidence boost for the league which will start next Saturday against Malaga at the Mestalla. The game featured new striker, Helder Postiga's, debut while also allowing Guardado, Fede and Canales to make a return from injury.

The first half began in a great fashion with Valencia dominating as they had been for the past few games. It only took 7 minutes for the first goal to come in. Banega found Postiga in the box with a through ball but his shot was saved by the keeper and the rebound fell back to Banega who had no problem in slotting past the keeper. Valencia continued their strong play but couldn't get another in the midst of Olympiacos's counterattacks. Diego Alves had a great role in stopping the counterattacks by making amazing saves when needed. Close to half-time, Bernat was side-lined with an injury but that wasn't going to stop Valencia when in the 41st minute they grabbed a second goal. Viera found provided the ball for Banega on the left flank who then drove the ball across the penalty box all the way to Postiga on the far end who finished it from close range.

The second half-featured the substitution of every player with the exception of Postiga. The performance was worse than the first half and Djukic expressed his unhappiness with the play in the second half. The chances that were made were terribly wasted, possession was lost quickly and the overall confidence was lower. The coach introduced two more substitutions by bringing on B-team player Chumbi and Guardado for Postiga and Cissokho respectively. A good chance was missed by Jonas about mid way through the second half when he hit the cross bar from point-blank range. The team would pay for this when, in the 84th minute, a cross was made by Olympiacos and an unmarked David Fuster calmly finished past Guaita. Olympiacos would grab a second goal a while later, only to be called offside but only by a fraction. Valencia managed to hold on to the lead for the remainder of the game and winning the match.

The Man-of-the-Match award was presented to Ever Banega at the end of the game and Ricardo Costa lifted the trophy. Djukic expressed that he was impressed with the first half but was disappointed with the rest of the game. He promised to iron out the mistakes before the league game.

Valencia CF (2): Alves, Bernat, Rami, Costa, Periera, Fuego, Banega, Michel, Viera, Fede, Postiga
Substitutes: Guaita, Cissokho, Guardado, V.Ruiz, Mathieu, Barragan, Romeu, Parejo, Canales, Jonas, Ibanez, Chumbi,

Olympiacos CFP (1): Roberto; Maniatis, Papazoglou, Fejsa, Mitroglou; Holebas, Medjani, Siovas, Campbell, Domínguez,Weis. 
Substitutes: Megyeri, Manolai, David Fuster, Machado, Saviola, Samaris, Fetfatzidis, Salino



AMUNT VALENCIA!!!

Valencia CF vs Olympiacos CFP Match Preview

Valencia return to the Mestalla for their last pre-season match in the annual local event known as the Trofeu Tronja (Orange Cup). The cup is this year, as with recent years, will consist of only one fixture. Valencia have won this cup, which it hosts every year, 25 times. Olympiacos finished 1st in the Greek League last year and thus are the reigning champions of Greece. However, their pre-season hasn't been the greatest. Out of the 6 games they played, they have won 2, lost 4 times and drew once. Valencia come into this game with a 1-0 victory against Everton in the USA. Youngster Alcacer is out with injury, while Fede, Canales and Guardado return to action after an injury. This game might also feature new signing, Helder Postiga although I think Jonas will start since the new striker hasn't had enough time to practice with the team.

Another win should be expected in this game if Valencia play as consistent with their last two games. It is important to finish off the pre-season on a high note since the first league game against Malaga is only in a week's time.

Match Date: August 10th, 2013
Match Time: 20:00 GMT
Venue: Mestalla, Valencia

You are welcome to post your predictions below.

AMUNT VALENCIA!!!