What’s the story?
Manchester United’s makeshift yet effective right-back Antonio Valencia has revealed that his current manager Jose Mourinho has been a long-term admirer of his abilities and even wanted to sign him when he was in charge of the Spanish giants Real Madrid.
Speaking to The Mail, the Ecuadorian star revealed what Mourinho told him during one of their conversations. “When I was coach at Real Madrid, I wanted to sign you as my right back but United said no,” the Portuguese apparently told him.
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In case you didn’t know
Born in Lago Agrio, Ecuador, Valencia began his football career at El Nacional and impressed with his performances. His pace, as well as industriousness down the right flank, earned him a move to Spain with Villarreal.
However, limited game time proved to be detrimental to his growing stature and the midfielder was on the move again, this time to Wigan Athletic. It was his performances at the DW Stadium that truly brought him to the spotlight as he became a crucial player for the club.
He soon caught the eye of the great Sir Alex Ferguson and moved to the Old Trafford in the summer of 2009 for a fee rumoured to be in the region of £16 million.
The heart of the matter
Despite being one of the consistent performers at the club since his arrival, Valencia’s future was believed to be one in a conundrum when Jose Mourinho was appointed at the helm of the affairs of the Manchester club. His defensive frailness, even though he was trained as a winger and not a right-back, were cited as the reasons that could force Mourinho into letting the Ecuador international move.
Cut to the present and Valencia is one of the irreplaceable players at the club. He has shown stability defence by using his strength and has not been afraid to put his body on the line. And like always, he has been consistently making darting runs through the opposition’s defence to help his attackers.
His performances have not gone unnoticed by his manager, who has even gone on to claim that Valencia is the best right-back in the world at the moment.
What next?
The 31-year-old recently extended his current contract with Manchester United by another year to keep him at the club until the end of the 2017-18 season. That essentially provides Mourinho and co the required time to scout and bring in another younger full-back to replace the marauding Ecuadorian, in case his form diminishes.
Sportskeeda’s take
It is not tough to understand why the Portuguese manager loves the Ecuadorian wide man given his athleticism, willingness as well as ability to help his side assert their supremacy in games. However, since his contract was only extended by another year at the club, it would be pragmatic of the former Villarreal and Wigan man to look for life beyond Manchester United.
He has an impressive record in England since his arrival and we would not be surprised if various clubs line-up to sign the player soon.
