Piccini ‘motivated’ for Valencia role

New Valencia signing Cristiano Piccini says he will need no motivation to take advantage of the chance he has been offered with Los Che.

The former Real Betis right-back joined the club from Sporting CP this week in a deal worth €8m, having left the crisis-hit Portuguese outfit following an assault on the players by some supporters a few months ago.

Piccini, 25, is an Italy Under-21 international who made 40 appearances for Sporting last season, but admitted he did not have to think twice when Valencia came calling.

“I’m very happy to be here and I’m going to work very hard to show I deserve this opportunity,” he is quoted as saying by Marca, after making his debut in a friendly less than 24 hours after signing.

“I felt good and I’m looking forward to getting down to work, entering into the mechanism of the team, and getting to know my teammates. I’m very happy everything went so quickly.

“With Valencia it’s the name that attracts you. It’s an important name in football and the club is a really big entity. I did not hesitate for one minute.

“I hope we can win a title because I think that’s something Valencia needs and they possess everything to fight for trophies.”

Piccini admitted he had spoken to various people immediately before putting pen to paper.

“I had a chat with the boss Marcelino, but the person I spoke to mostly was sporting director Pablo Longoria.

“We talked above all else about commitment and I told him to have no doubts over me regarding that. I also spoke to Joaquin, who was a teammate at Fiorentina and Real Betis, and he spoke very well about the city and the club.

“With Valencia I’ll now get the opportunity to play in the Champions League. It’s very exciting for everybody.

“I think it is a great competition.  We will have the privilege of playing for a club as big as Valencia and we can go far,” he concluded.

Tags Piccini Sporting Lisbon
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