EXCLUSIVE: Barcelona midfielder joins La Liga rival as he revealed the reason why he left the club this summer despite Xavi Hernandez’s effort to keep him.
Prospective Barcelona midfielder Nico Gonzalez has finalised his loan move to Valencia and is hoping to participate in the team’s season opening on Sunday night against recently promoted club Girona.
Despite some rumors concerning his future, Nico had seemed like he would stay put at Camp Nou this summer. The 20-year-situation old’s grew challenging after Xavi Hernandez decided to keep Miralem Pjanic with the team since game time would have been difficult to come by.
Nico made the decision to quit the team and play on loan elsewhere for the upcoming season. Wolves of the Premier League had shown interest, but the La Masia grad decided to join Valencia.
The midfielder left for Valencia today to finish his physical after earlier this week an agreement for his loan move to Los Che was reached.
Before making an official announcement, the move will soon be completed. However, Nico previously acknowledged the loan transfer in a recent interview with the media, saying he was eager to begin his new journey.
The Spanish midfielder told COPE that he was “extremely thrilled” and “eager to start [with Valencia].”
Nico responded, “I’ve already had a conversation with him,” when asked if he had discussed his upcoming move to the Mestalla with Valencia manager Gennaro Gattuso. I’m really looking forward to working with him.
The 20-year-old continued, “I hope to get some minutes,” before mentioning that he might make his Valencia debut this weekend when they take on Girona on Sunday night.
Nico, a graduate of Barcelona’s renowned La Masia youth academy, made his debut for the first team last year. In 36 appearances across all competitions, he scored two goals and assisted two others.
A loan move is possibly the best option for Nico given the overbooking of midfielders at Camp Nou, as he will stand to gain important experience by playing frequently.
