Following their heart-breaking elimination in the UEFA Europa League against Sevilla and without a chance to make it to Europe next season, Valencia are already thinking about their squad for the upcoming season.
Manager Juan Antonio Pizzi has lifted the team’s morale during the second part of the season but it’s no secret that the squad needs reinforcements on the offensive side of the ball. Eduardo Vargas – who is slated to return to Napoli next year – Jonas and Paco Alcácer are the only attacking options and there aren’t players capable of being playmakers aside from Sofiane Feghouli so ‘Los Ché’ really need to strengthen their depth in the offensive side of the ball.
They are close to sealing a deal to bring Argentinean attacking midfielder Rodrigo De Paul to Mestalla. The 19-year-old creative midfielder has been a bright spot for Racing de Avellaneda this season and several reports are indicating the deal is close to be completed rather sooner than later.
‘La Academia’ received several offers for De Paul and it seemed like Udinese was the player’s most likely destination. However, Valencia stepped their game up and are reportedly closing out to sign the midfielder on a deal close to €5M that would send the youngster to Valencia, something that has De Paul quite excited.
“I’m very happy at Racing but the possibility of joining Valencia makes me feel very happy”, De Paul said a few days ago. “They are one of the best teams in Europe and this is an opportunity I can’t reject. I have to go to Europe to continue my development”.
Rodrigo De Paul has seen action in 36 games this season for Racing and has scored only three times. He doesn’t have a proven track record but he has great potential so this is definitively a move that Valencia made while also looking towards the future.