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If fate had not intervened, Valencia would probably be a European superpower by now. A Spanish giant in their own right, the La Liga club had started the new millennium with two league titles and two consecutive Champions League final appearances before things went awry.
After winning the league in 2001/02 and 2003/04, Los Che suffered a decline. They never finished higher than third and even fell to as low as 12th place. A string of inconsistent mid-table finishes were attributed to the lack of financial support that saw the club riddled with debts exceeding €400m.
An ambitious move to build a new stadium - Nou Mestalla - with a higher capacity than the current Mestalla Stadium crippled the club financially. The work on the stadium began but soon stopped due to a lack of funds.
All that exists now is a concrete shell while Valencia continue to play at Mestalla. Promises have been made to finish the stadium by 2021 but they have been taken with caution.
To fund the club and pay players their wages, the club had to finally resort to selling their best players to top European clubs who were willing to pay big money for their services. As a result, Valencia floundered as top talents moved elsewhere.
So what if Valencia had never had to sell their best players in the past 10 years? What would their team have looked like today?
Goalkeeper
If there was one goalkeeper La Liga's players hated when they took penalties, it was Diego Alves. The Brazilian goalkeeper would flip a switch to 'Beast Mode' when the ball was placed on the white spot 12 yards from goal and was nearly impossible to score against.
Just ask the following players who have seen their penalties against Alves saved: Cristiano Ronaldo (twice), Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann, Diego Costa, Carlos Bacca, Ivan Rakitic, Gabi, Carlos Vela, Fernando Llorente...
The list goes on. He has saved nearly half the penalties he has faced - a phenomenal record for any goalkeeper. In all, he saved 22 penalties that were taken with him in goal.
His save success percentage of 47% was miles ahead of any other goalkeeper in the division. The next best is 28%!
"It is a bit about intuition. I always see it as a psychological war. There is no specific work for it. It is a moment in the game when nerves come into it. You have to try and win that war." - Diego Alves
Alves currently holds the record for most penalty saves in La Liga history. After a decade in Europe, Alves returned to South America to join Brazilian side Flamengo.
Substitute: Miguel Angel Moya
Centre-Backs
If Valencia had the resources and the status, Nicolas Otamendi would probably have stayed on at the Mestalla. Signed from Porto for €12m, he was initially loaned out to Atletico Mineiro before he started the 2014/15 season with Los Che.
What made Otamendi special was the fact that he was not just a defender. He was a goalscoring centre-back who was a veritable threat in the opponents' box. In one season at Valencia, he scored six goals - the first defender in the history of the club to do so.
Otamendi duly made the La Liga team of the year that season and Manchester City soon came knocking on Valencia's door with a £28.5m bid convincing them to let the Argentinian move to the Premier League.
German defender Shkodran Mustafi has, surprisingly, never played senior football for a German club. His potential was sighted early and he had been snapped up by Everton first before moving to Sampdoria who soon sold him to Valencia in 2014.
A member of the 2014 World Cup winning squad, Mustafi soon became the leader at the back for Valencia and was a tough defender to beat in the air. Although he was prone to conceding fouls, he was young at the time and was still on a learning curve.
In a summer where Valencia sold £100m of talent, Mustafi was snapped up by Arsenal in 2016 for a fee in the region of £35m.
Substitute: Victor Ruiz
Full-Backs
The man credited with Jordi Alba becoming such an influential left-back is Unai Emery who managed Valencia between 2008 and 2012. And one of the main reasons why he is so good in attack is because Emery constantly switched him between left-back and left-wing.
"He (Emery) received critics when he played me as a full-back but he kept on doing it. Thanks to him, I'm at Barça and in the national team. If he hadn't switched my position, I wouldn't be here today." - Jordi Alba
Alba spent three years in Valencia's senior team. He particularly impressed against Barcelona when he gave Dani Alves a tough time.
The following summer, Barcelona paid Valencia €14m and signed him where he has established himself as their primary left-back ever since.
At right-back is the veteran Portuguese footballer Joao Pereira. The 34-year-old's best days are probably behind him but had he stayed at the club with other players in their prime, Valencia may have had a shot at a trophy or two.
Pereira played 75 times for Valencia in two-and-a-half seasons but once Nuno Espírito Santo came to the club, he was relegated to the bench.
Substitute: Jeremy Mathieu
Midfielders
In all, Ever Banega spent more than five years at Valencia with 162 appearances under his belt for Los Che. A sublime central midfielder who could play in a deep role or an attacking role, the Argentina international was signed for €20m in 2008.
Banega was a key member of the midfield and helped in controlling the tempo of the game thanks to his ability to play as a deep-lying playmaker. He was also a key man to take set-pieces.
A bizarre injury where his own car ran over his foot saw him sidelined for months after he required surgery and soon he was on his way to Sevilla (with former manager Emery taking the club to new heights).
Arguably two of their greatest talents, David Silva and Juan Mata left a year apart and the club have never been the same since. Silva spent four seasons with the senior team between 2006 and 2010 while Mata was a key member between 2007 and 2011.
Silva was a product of the club's youth system while Mata had been brought over from Real Madrid Castilla. Both were known to be goalscoring midfielders - especially Mata, who scored 14 goals in a season twice.
Sadly, Valencia was never going to retain them amidst a huge financial debt and when Manchester City and Chelsea came calling, they had to be sold for the sake of the club.
Substitutes: Enzo Perez, Sofiane Feghouli
Forwards
For Valencia fans, David Villa will always be the one that got away. Signed for €12m from Real Zaragoza, Villa became an instant hit at the Mestalla with 25 goals in La Liga in his debut season.
A prolific goalscorer and one of the best forwards of his generation, Villa could shoot with either foot and his intelligent movement always allowed him to get into goalscoring positions. He was one of the main reasons why Los Che also qualified for the knockout stages of the Champions League.
After scoring 129 goals (fifth highest of all time for Valencia), all he had to show for his career was a Copa del Rey winners' medal. He needed no second invitation to move to Barcelona for €40m where he won every trophy available.
Isco is another player that Valencia should have kept to compete in La Liga. A product of their own youth system, Isco spent a total of five years with the club - one year in the senior team.
He broke into the Valencia B team when he was only 17 and made his senior debut aged 18. However, when Malaga came into some money, they activated his release clause of €6m and he was gone.
Malaga is where he established himself as a youngster to look out for, even winning the Golden Boy award.
Before he became a flop of epic proportions in the Premier League, Roberto Soldado was the toast of Valencia during his three years at the club. He was the club's top goalscorer in all three seasons and averaged more than 27 goals a season (all competitions).
Valencia weren't used to Champions League nights until he arrived and helped them finish third twice and qualify for Europe's premier competition.
And the club did not stand in his way when Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur looked to spend their Gareth Bale money on a host of players - including the £26m they paid for Soldado who struggled to score in England (just 16 goals in two seasons).
Substitutes: Joaquin, Alvaro Negredo
