The 34-year-old former Spain international, Victor Valdes is set to return to his parent club, Manchester United after his loan deal at the Belgian club, Standard Liege has been cut short due to his lack of availability, courtesy an injury. Valdes had moved to Standard Liege, earlier this January, on a six-month loan deal.
The former Barcelona goalkeeper had joined the Manchester-based club back in the October 2014 on an 18-month deal. He made his first league appearance for the illustrious English club on 17 May 2015 against Arsenal in a match which ended at 1-1.
However, soon after, the 34-year-old had a bust-up with the current Manchester United manager – Louis van Gaal – regarding the former's participation for the club's U-21 side. The argument led to Valdes's exit from Old Trafford and his subsequent six-month loan deal with Standard Liege.
Also read: Victor Valdes speaks out about how he was mistreated at Manchester United
Having said that, Valdes is set to be released from Standard Liege after just four months stay at the Belgian club. Although the Catalan goalkeeper was supposed to spend the rest of this football season at Belgium, he along with the on-loan Olympiakos midfielder, Giannis Maniatis has been released by the club.
According to a statement that has been issued by Liege, “We (Standard Liege) want to give youngsters a chance in the upcoming games. Valdes is currently injured, so we decided to terminate the deal.”
“As we decided to give more playing time to the youth players at the end of the season and because they couldn't be selected for medical reasons, the Spanish goalkeeper (Victor Valdes) and the Greek midfielder (Giannis Maniatis) have decided, in agreement with the club, to finish their loans at the end of this week,” the official statement, further, read.
“Standard Liege want(s) to thank Giannis and Victor for everything they did for our club, especially during the successful campaign on the way to winning the Belgian Cup. We also wish them the best in the rest of their professional careers,” it, finally, concluded.
Valdes will be out of contract at the end of this season
The 34-year-old goalkeeper had played a total of eight matches for Standard Liege in his short tenure of four months at the Belgian club. Valdes was also a part of the Standard Liege squad which had won the Belgian Cup, earlier last month with a 2-1 win over Club Brugge.
It has been reported that the former Barcelona goalkeeper will be out of contract this summer. However, Manchester United have an option to extend Victor Valdes’ contract by 12 months at the end of this season.
