Valencia CF had an indifferent season with managerial changes and a mid-table finish of 12th in Laliga. Yet, don't feel this to be a weak Spanish side. They were wayward times under Gary Neville's guidance and floundered to three end of season defeats, but Valencia have quality players that are more than capable of playing Champions League football. What's more they have started to bring some exciting players in and none more so that Portugal's Nani.
This is a team that beat Barcelona 2-1 in the Camp Nou in April. They are not a team that AFCB can take lightly. You may have seen Germany's centre-half Shkordan Musafi and Portugal's André Gomes at this summer's Euros as well as Nani. Gomes has since moved on to Barcelona, having had a £40m bid from Chelsea rejected, while Real Madrid were also chasing the player. Valencia have also lost Alvaro Negredo to Middlesbrough, which was a big coup for the northeast club.
Central defender, and German international, Shkdoran Mustafi is another Valencia player that has attracted the attention of the Premier League and Arsenal in particular.
So Los Che (The Che) or Els Taronges (oranges) as Valencia CF is known will be quite a changed side from last season when they play at Dean Court. Those we could see include new signings goalkeeper Yoel, Salva Ruiz (defender) and Rober Ibáñez (midfielder) have come in from Granada, Lucas Orban is an Argentine defender from Levante, and other Argentine midfielders Rodrigo de Paul and Fede Cartabia have joined this summer. Nani could well be partnered up front with Vinicius Araüja who is a 23-year-old Brazilian forward signed from Sport Club Recife.
AFCB fans might not recognise many of the names, but Valencia will be determined to show that they are better than a Premier League club and that makes it a very difficult game for whatever XI Edie Howe selects.
AFCB also announced yesterday that there would be one more pre-season friendly against Franch Ligue 1 side SCO Angers on Saturday 6 August.
This is a team that beat Barcelona 2-1 in the Camp Nou in April. They are not a team that AFCB can take lightly. You may have seen Germany's centre-half Shkordan Musafi and Portugal's André Gomes at this summer's Euros as well as Nani. Gomes has since moved on to Barcelona, having had a £40m bid from Chelsea rejected, while Real Madrid were also chasing the player. Valencia have also lost Alvaro Negredo to Middlesbrough, which was a big coup for the northeast club.
The Cherries face a Valencia that have seen many new signings. |
So Los Che (The Che) or Els Taronges (oranges) as Valencia CF is known will be quite a changed side from last season when they play at Dean Court. Those we could see include new signings goalkeeper Yoel, Salva Ruiz (defender) and Rober Ibáñez (midfielder) have come in from Granada, Lucas Orban is an Argentine defender from Levante, and other Argentine midfielders Rodrigo de Paul and Fede Cartabia have joined this summer. Nani could well be partnered up front with Vinicius Araüja who is a 23-year-old Brazilian forward signed from Sport Club Recife.
AFCB fans might not recognise many of the names, but Valencia will be determined to show that they are better than a Premier League club and that makes it a very difficult game for whatever XI Edie Howe selects.
AFCB also announced yesterday that there would be one more pre-season friendly against Franch Ligue 1 side SCO Angers on Saturday 6 August.
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