Valencia and Barcelona performed a little goalkeeper shuffle last summer, but it hasn’t really worked out for either team.
Barca got Neto, who had been nicely in place as Valencia’s number one, as their backup, while Jesper Cillessen, who had spent years backing up Marc Andre Ter Stegen in Catalonia, went the other way to try his hand as a starter.
In the end, Neto hasn’t really featured, while Cillessen hasn’t really impressed. Even worse, he missed 10 games through injury, and was then left on the bench after Jaume Domenech took his place.
Not only that, but Valencia are paying him good money. AS today report that Los Che want rid of the former Ajax goalkeeper because he’s costing them €11m a year between the amortisation of the transfer fee and his salary.
That’s an incredible 7% of their budget on a goalkeeper, and one who hasn’t really impressed for them either. It’s easy to see why they’re keen to move on from this transfer mistake as soon as possible.
The question is – who will take the Dutchman off them?
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“Playing behind closed doors – for us – is not much different to the games being cancelled” – Which national coach said this about their own fans? Find out here.
