Valencia are on the verge of signing winger Sergi Canós, who most recently played for EPL side Brentford. This in replacement of Kluivert, Lino, and Lato who have all left the club. In 187 matches for Brentford (since 2017), Sergi scored 26 goals. On loan at Olympiacos for 8 matches in 2023, he picked up 4 goals. He is Spanish.
Sevilla are looking to sell striker Rafa Mir this summer and Valencia are interested in bringing him back. He had been at the Valencia academy before. In 4 years in Sevilla, Mir scored 21 goals over 83 appearances. Edinson Cavani also wants to stay at Valencia despite his poor showing. Valencia has already signed midfielder Pepelu (José Luis García Vayá) from Levante for €5m.
Very slow transfer news if you're not following Barcelona or Real Madrid. Valencia beat Spartak Trnava 0-1 in a pre-season friendly. Alberto Mari scored the only goal on a PK. Tomorrow, Valencia match with Swiss St. Gallen will be televised.
Valencia's transfer of Yunus Musah to AC Milan has been stymied not by club management but by owner Peter Lim, who thought he could get a bidding war going. Instead, he will end up with a pissed off Musah who won't be worth nearly as much next summer or in the winter transfer window. The latest Milan offer of €18m was turned down. Valencia value him at €25m. In other news, Bayern Munich are no longer interested in Mamardashvili. I thought he would be gone by now, but interest appears to be dwindling.
Peter Lim and AC Milan finally reached a deal with Lim lowering the Yunus Musah transfer fee to €20m. Now Valencia can go shopping. Rafa Mir is one name being bandied about, and Cavani was given 5 days to make a deal with Boca Juniors, which would free up his salary monies also.
Valencia are trying to get relegated Real Valladolid to agree to a loan swap. Valencia would send underperforming Marcos Andre back to Valladolid -where he impressed before- and bring attacking midfielder Selim Amallah to Mestalla.
Week 1: 1-0-0 3 points Valencia went to Seville and beat Sevilla 1-2 in a well-played match. Starting lineup was: Mamardashvili Correia, Paulista, Cenk Ozkacar, Gaya Pepelu, Diakhaby, Almeida Fran Perez, Hugo Duro, Diego Lopez Sometimes 4-3-3 and sometimes 4-4-2 with Fran dropping back in midfield. Playing Diakhaby as defensive midfielder was a smart move; he also gets forward to join the offense. First goal, Almeida set up Diakhaby for the shot into the left corner. Sevilla tied it up, and then near the end, Duro set up Guerra out front to beat the goalie on the left side. Goals - Assists Guerra 1 - 0 Diakhaby 1 - 0 Almeida 0 - 1 Duro 0 - 1 Goals scored: 2 Goals conceded: 1 Clean sheets: 0
Week 2: 2-0-0 6 points Valencia beat Las Palmas 1-0 in Mestalla from a Pepelu PK on 73'. Missed a few chances, and really need better service to an isolated Hugo Duro. When sending Guerra on in second half, Baraja took off Almeida rather than Fran Perez, who still fails to impress. Valencia - Las Palmas Starting lineup: Mamardashvili Correia, Paulista, Cenk Ozkacar, Gaya Pepelu, Diakhaby, Almeida Fran Perez, Hugo Duro, Diego Lopez Goals - Assists Guerra 1 - 0 Diakhaby 1 - 0 Pepelu 1 - 0 Almeida 0 - 1 Duro 0 - 1 Goals scored: 3 Goals conceded: 1 Clean sheets: 1
Week 3: 2-0-1 6 points Osasuna pull out a last-minute match winner against Valencia in Mestalla, 1-2. Guerra cross to Hugo Duro who headed it in over a defender was only Valencia goal. This is Duro's first goal since last September, so that was good to break the drought. Goals - Assists Guerra 1 - 1 Duro 1 - 1 Diakhaby 1 - 0 Pepelu 1 - 0 Almeida 0 - 1 Goals scored: 4 Goals conceded: 3 Clean sheets: 1
Valencia has a striker on the way: Roman Yaremchuk. The Ukrainian NT striker will join from Club Brugge. It will be a loan deal. He got only 923 minutes for Brugge last season, appearing in 23 matches and scoring only 2 goals. But at 27, he is young enough that the talent and energy are likely still there.
Week 4: Alaves 1-0 Valencia Week 5: 3-0-2 9 points Valencia downed an injury-plagued Atletico Madrid 3-0 in Mestalla. Good time to play them! Hugo Duro got a brace of goals (Canós and Perez assists) and Javi Guerra scored the third (Correia). I haven't seen this yet, had another match at the same time. New signing Amallah got some minutes, but not Yaremchuk. Goals - Assists Duro 3 - 1 Guerra 2 - 1 Diakhaby 1 - 0 Pepelu 1 - 0 Almeida 0 - 1 Correia 0 - 1 Perez 0 - 1 Canós 0 - 1 Goals scored: 7 Goals conceded: 4 Clean sheets: 2
Week 6: 3-1-2 10 points Away to bottom-of-the-table Almeria, Valencia could only manage a 2-2 draw. Mamardashvili make some great saves that prevented goals, but gave up the two on bungled parries himself. Diego Lopez played a 1-2 with Javi Guerra for the first goal, and then Fran Perez gave Guerra a through ball for his goal. It is fun to watch those three who all came up from Valencia B late last season. Good passing interplay between them. Goals - Assists Guerra 3 - 2 Duro 3 - 1 Perez 0 - 2 Lopez 1 - 0 Diakhaby 1 - 0 Pepelu 1 - 0 Almeida 0 - 1 Correia 0 - 1 Canós 0 - 1 Goals scored: 9 Goals conceded: 6 Clean sheets: 2
Week 7: 3-1-3 10 points Well that sucked, 0-1 loss at home to Real Sociedad. Have to win your home matches. Amallah got the start in midfield, in place of Almeida and rewarded the trainer by picking up two yellow cards near the end of the first half; thus, Valencia played with only 10 for the entire second half. And basically chased the game. Very few good chances. Young squad, down this match, maybe up next time. Goals scored: 9 Goals conceded: 7 Clean sheets: 2
Week 9: 3-2-4 11 points Well, they didn't lose and they did score a goal. And Baraja made it past the 8-match mark that I gave him before being fired. Anyway, 1-1 draw in Mallorca. Correia cross headed in by Diego Lopez on an excellent header that required him to twist his body and head back away from his direction of motion. Week 8: Real Betis 3-0 Valencia Goals - Assists Guerra 3 - 2 Duro 3 - 1 Lopez 2 - 0 Perez 0 - 2 Correia 0 - 2 Diakhaby 1 - 0 Pepelu 1 - 0 Almeida 0 - 1 Canós 0 - 1 Goals scored: 10 Goals conceded: 11 Clean sheets: 2
Week 10: 4-2-4 14 points About 1/3 of the way to safety now. Gaya with a chip over the GK for the first goal (Amallah assist), and then Correia's cheeky chip pass over GK gave Duro an easy header. Mamardashvili with a rare clean sheet. Both Diego Lopez and Fran Perez scored in last Tuesday's Spain U21 win over Kazakhstan 4-0. I like a squad that is blooding youth players who are beginning to prove their worth in the first squad. Goals - Assists Guerra 3 - 2 Duro 4 - 1 Correia 0 - 3 Lopez 2 - 0 Perez 0 - 2 Diakhaby 1 - 0 Pepelu 1 - 0 Gaya 1 - 0 Almeida 0 - 1 Canós 0 - 1 Amallah 0 - 1 Goals scored: 12 Goals conceded: 11 Clean sheets: 3
Week 11: 4-3-4 15 points Almost grabbed 3 points up north in Bilbao, but gave up last minute goal in a 2-2 draw with Athletic. Second half goals came from Fran Perez-Hugo Duro partnership, each assisting on the other's goal. Unfortunately, Duro may have injured his shoulder, we'll see. Goals - Assists Duro 5 - 2 Guerra 3 - 2 Perez 1 - 3 Correia 0 - 3 Lopez 2 - 0 Diakhaby 1 - 0 Pepelu 1 - 0 Gaya 1 - 0 Almeida 0 - 1 Canós 0 - 1 Amallah 0 - 1 Goals scored: 14 Goals conceded: 13 Clean sheets: 3
Copa del Rey Round 1 UD Logrones 0-2 Valencia Baraja used the following lineup until second half substitutions: Domenech Foulquier, Tarrega, Mosquera, Gasiorowski Gozalbez, Guillamon, Amallah Hugo Gonzalez, Yaremchuk, Canos Bunch of youth: Terrega (21), Mosquera (19), Gasiorowski (18), Gozalbez (22), and Gonzalez (20). Gozalbez had a man-of-the-match performance with a goal (rebound from GK) and set up Diego Lopez for a goal near the end. Yaremchuk and Amallah didn't have very good matches, but they did get more playing time to learn how to gell with their teammates. Going to need to step up the performances in following rounds, however.
Week 12: 5-3-4 18 points At home to Granada, Valencia won 1-0 on a Pepelu PK. Neither side created much offense in this pedestrian match, but Hugo Duro was irritating enough that a Granadan defender fouled him the box. Mamardashvili with another clean sheet. Goals - Assists Duro 5 - 2 Guerra 3 - 2 Perez 1 - 3 Correia 0 - 3 Lopez 2 - 0 Pepelu 2 - 0 Diakhaby 1 - 0 Gaya 1 - 0 Almeida 0 - 1 Canós 0 - 1 Amallah 0 - 1 Goals scored: 15 Goals conceded: 13 Clean sheets: 4
Week 13: 5-3-5 18 points Lost to Real 5-1 in Madrid, an outcome that was not unexpected. Hugo Duro scored only Valencia goal from a Hugo Gonzalez assist. Goals - Assists Duro 6 - 2 Guerra 3 - 2 Perez 1 - 3 Correia 0 - 3 Lopez 2 - 0 Pepelu 2 - 0 Diakhaby 1 - 0 Gaya 1 - 0 Almeida 0 - 1 Canós 0 - 1 Amallah 0 - 1 Gonzalez 0 - 1 Goals scored: 16 Goals conceded: 18 Clean sheets: 4
Week 14: 5-4-5 19 points Home draw 0-0 against a relegation zone Celta Vigo. Former trainer Rafa Benitez returned for a homecoming of sorts. This was the kind of match they need to win to move up in the world. Mamardashvili with a clean sheet. Goals scored: 16 Goals conceded: 18 Clean sheets: 5
Week 15: 5-4-6 19 points Away match up in Girona, who are top of table with Real Madrid. Valencia stayed back and played defensively and then Duro nicked a poor back pass from Girona defender and raced halfway down the pitch to chip the GK. However, Valencia defense gave up 2 goals in only 6 minutes near the end to lose all 3 points. Offense are very poor, rarely stringing together 2 or 3 consecutive passes. Goals - Assists Duro 7 - 2 Guerra 3 - 2 Perez 1 - 3 Correia 0 - 3 Lopez 2 - 0 Pepelu 2 - 0 Diakhaby 1 - 0 Gaya 1 - 0 Almeida 0 - 1 Canós 0 - 1 Amallah 0 - 1 Gonzalez 0 - 1 Goals scored: 17 Goals conceded: 20 Clean sheets: 5
Week 16: 5-4-7 19 points Went to the capital to play cr@p Getafe and lost 1-0. Two players given red cards (Paulista, Guerra). The rot continues. I don't think Valencia had a single shot on goal. Too bad they only got halfway to safety before the collapse began. Goals scored: 17 Goals conceded: 21 Clean sheets: 5
Week 17: 5-5-7 20 points Hosted Barcelona at Mestalla in what could have been a blowout loss, but were scrappy enough to pull off a 1-1 draw. Hugo Guillamon, playing for the suspended Guerra, hit a long range shot into upper right corner, assist from Diego Lopez. Now on 20 points, halfway to safety. Goals - Assists Duro 7 - 2 Guerra 3 - 2 Perez 1 - 3 Lopez 2 - 1 Correia 0 - 3 Pepelu 2 - 0 Diakhaby 1 - 0 Gaya 1 - 0 Guillamon 1 - 0 Almeida 0 - 1 Canós 0 - 1 Amallah 0 - 1 Gonzalez 0 - 1 Goals scored: 18 Goals conceded: 22 Clean sheets: 5
Week 19: 7-5-7 26 points Midweek match to restart the league after Christmas and New Year break. Valencia beat Villarreal 3-1 in home match with a good all-around performance. Gaya cut ball back to Yaremchuk in the box to finish off for his first league goal. And then Pepelu converted both PKs given to him by Villarreal defensive mistakes. Guillamon and Pepelu formed a good midfield duo with Guerra only coming on with around 20 minutes left. Goals - Assists Duro 7 - 2 Guerra 3 - 2 Pepelu 4 - 0 Lopez 2 - 2 Perez 1 - 3 Correia 0 - 3 Canós 1 - 1 Gaya 1 - 1 Yaremchuk 1 - 0 Diakhaby 1 - 0 Guillamon 1 - 0 Almeida 0 - 1 Amallah 0 - 1 Gonzalez 0 - 1 Goals scored: 22 Goals conceded: 23 Clean sheets: 6
Copa del Rey, 3rd Round FC Cartagena 1-2 Valencia Valencia gave up an early goal (4') when Mosquera failed to play in line with the other 3 backs and allowed a Cartagena striker space to collect the ball and fire past Domenech, 1-0. Offense was poor throughout with too many passes and crosses going to FC players and their GK, respectively. Also, Valencia players stood around and didn't try to get into open space. Anyway, Canós came on as a sub and took a pass from Gaya out beyond the box and shot a rocket to beat the keeper to the left side (73'). Match went to extra time, and a Gaya cross into the area was left untouched by everyone including their keeper (Cenk assist, 106') for the match winner. Valencia advance to Round 4, but boy did they look poor today. Vazquez started at LB in place of Gaya and was very poor; good thing Gaya came on to save the day.