Manchester United have confirmed on their website that they have signed former Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes on a free transfer.
The Spaniard was training with Manchester United in a bid to regain his fitness and they have been impressed with his progress and signed him on an 18-month loan deal that will keep him with the club until the summer of 2016. Prior to his Cruciate Ligament Rupture in March last year, Valdes was set to join French side Monaco. However, the long-term injury did not help his cause as the deal failed to materialise.
The 32-year old was delighted after having signed for United and told in an interview with club, “For me it is a pleasure to sign for Man United. It has been a hard recovery time from my injury and the first thing I want to say is thank you to Louis van Gaal for letting me work again with him and his team. This change is very important for me because my injury was very, very hard. United and everybody around United saved me and they looked after me, so I am very grateful for everybody around the world and for the manager for giving me the chance to be a United player.”
Valdes compared Manchester United to his old club Barcelona and revealed that it was like a dream to sign for United, “The first day when I came here to the Aon Training Complex, I saw the big red letters of Manchester United. For me, it is like a dream. I played for Barca for a lot of years and that is also a big club, I have loved the club all my life. I think this is the same. It is a big club around the world with a lot of fans. The fans of United, I feel them always when I am living in the centre of Manchester. I think it is like a family. This is the same feeling as Barca. For me it is very nice and it is a pleasure to be a part of this family of Manchester United.”
Valdes wants to continue winning trophies with Manchester United
After a hugely successful spell at Barcelona where he won 21 trophies, when Valdes was asked about his ambition, he commented that winning trophies is still very much part of his plans and one of the reasons as to why he joined the Red Devils, “When you have won the most important trophies in football, it is like a drug. You want to win again and you feel these amazing moments with your fans, with your family and with your team-mates. It is very nice and my ambition is to win every game and every trophy.