This is another piece of media trickery, but it’s also a good time to revisit Víctor Valdés’s club situation. The Spanish international, in his 11th season with Barcelona, has declined a contract extension with a Spanish champions. After six league and three European titles, the 31-year-old is intent on moving on, a desire a revealed back in May.
Currently on international duty with Spain, Valdés affirmed that desire in an interview with French outlet Telefoot (with these quotes via Spanish outlet AS.com):
“It has been more than 10 years and I’ve had the good fortune to win many titles with Barça, ...” Valdés said this weekend, " but my adventure with Barça will end this ends this season, I’ll going elsewhere with my family.”
Pretty standard stuff, right? The interviewer got the affirmation (s)he wanted, though given the question was coming from a French outlet, it’s no surprise questions about Ligue 1 were nearby. Monaco’s a player in seemingly every European transfer, and amid speculation Croatian Danijel Subasic could be upgraded in goal, Valdés is thought to be a natural fit.
With his contract expiring at the end of the season, Valdés could sign a pre-contract agreement as early as January, emboldening a link Valdés did little to play-down with Telefoot.
“Monaco is a good option,” he confessed, “but I leave [those things] to my representative. To me as a professional Ligue 1 is attracts me.”
With that, expect a new round of Valdés-to-Monaco speculation to being, though in actuality, he hasn’t said anything new. A reporter asks him if he’s leaving Barcelona: He says yes. He’s still leaving Barcelona. A reporter asks him if he’s going to Monaco: He doesn’t say yes. Or no. He merely says Monaco is an option. Still.
Not to be too sanguine about this, but this is pretty much Soccer Rumors 1 (not even 101). Get Valdés to say something (anything) about a potential destination, and run with it. Although he didn’t say anything new, that shouldn’t stop the headlines from being written.
As you can see, above.