Sergio Canales Seals Permanent Transfer to Valencia CF

Real Madrid have yet to make a major splash in this year's summer transfer window, but Wednesday saw the second Madridista leave the club for Valencia in a matter of 20 days.

Fernando Gago had already packed his bags for the Mestalla on July 19, but he has now been joined by 21-year-old Sergio Canales, who at one time was considered to be one of the brightest talents in Spanish football.

Canales had finagled a two-year loan deal at Valencia, which began during the 2011-12 season, but Real Madrid have confirmed that he has joined Los Che on a five-year deal, although Madrid did include a re-purchasing option that extends through the next two seasons.

It spoke to Canales's vast reserves of potential that in a summer when some £57 million was spent securing the arrivals of burgeoning superstars Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira and Angel di Maria, it was a relatively modest fee of £5.3 million, deposited to Racing Santander, that generated some of the most buzz.

Then 19, Canales had shown dizzying skill as an attacking midfielder for Racing Santander along with the Spanish national team's youth set up.

He was included in Madrid's preseason tour of America that summer of 2010, and even opened the scoring in an Aug. 4 friendly 3-2 win over Club America in San Francisco.

But ever since those bright beginnings, Canales's career has seen its upward trend, which once looked near-exponential, begin to dip.

He found the Madrid first-team midfield almost impossible to crack during his debut season and only managed 11 appearances for Valencia last season while fighting off injuries.

This permanent transfer is a good start—it spoke to Valencia manager Mauricio Pellegrino's confidence in his young charge that Canales featured in heated Champions League matches against the likes of Chelsea last season.

A chance will be awaiting him when the new La Liga season begins at the end of this month. If he is to revamp his career, Valencia looks like the optimal setting.