Are Valencia Ready to Become a Force in La Liga Again?

Sunday’s 0-0 draw with near-neighbours Villarreal wasn’t Valencia’s ideal scenario for celebrating Easter Sunday, but they’ll get over it quickly enough. Rather than being more of the same, it was a rare instance of the Mestalla’s demanding public being disappointed in this regenerative season.

National champions Atletico Madrid and European champions Real Madrid alike have both fallen to defeat at the famous old stadium in this campaign to date—and current La Liga leaders Barcelona required a late, late goal from Sergio Busquets to triumph there in late November. They have lost just one La Liga match at home and won 12, an equal tally to those posted by Barca, Atleti and El Real.

It’s symbolic, to say the least. A club that has slumped incrementally since the glorious Liga/UEFA Cup double authored by Rafa Benitez in 2004 has genuine reason to believe again, buoyed (finally) by solid-looking foundations.

The current wave of positivity has been swept in by the arrival of Singaporean businessman Peter Lim, whose Meriton Holdings football investment vehicle formally purchased a 70 percent chunk of the shareholding in November after 10 months of protracted and agonising negotiations.

Lim has been warmly welcomed by the locals; an inevitable consequence of his investment, you might say, particularly given the financial dire straits the club has been in through most of the preceding decade of financial mismanagement. Yet what has also impressed was Lim’s desire to set the club moving forward even before he completed the deal.

The cooperation of president Amadeo Salvo (who has remained in situ post-takeover) allowed it to happen, and Lim used Meriton to start restocking a flagging squad. With super-agent Jorge Mendes a close friend and fellow investor, Lim has invested in a range of talent. The pair had previously come close to buying English Championship club Middlesbrough, as reported here by El Confidencial (in Spanish).

Two of Meriton’s players, striker Rodrigo and midfielder Andre Gomes, were purchased on the last day of the winter transfer window in 2014 for a joint fee of €45 million, as per Mais Futebol (in Portuguese). They were then initially loaned to Valencia in summer pending the completion of Lim’s purchase.

As well as facilitating the arrival of World Cup finalist Enzo Perez this winter (also from Benfica), the pair’s connections led to Nuno Espirito Santo—or simply Nuno, as he is known—taking over as coach in the summer.

He was Mendes’ first client back in 1997, soliciting the then-nightclub owner for his business nous to help negotiate a move for the goalkeeper from Guimaraes to Deportivo La Coruna.

Kamran Jebreili/Associated Press

The 41-year-old was a surprise choice at the Mestalla, given his only previous experience was managing modest Rio Ave, albeit fairly successfully. Initially appointed on a one-year deal, his shrewd leadership meant that his deal was extended to 2018 back in January, as per Sky Sports.

Is it too much to hope that they can go on to challenge Barca and El Real? There is considerable optimism for the future, and that’s a great start. The Mendes connection has begun to make people think that anything is possible, and the Portuguese powerbroker’s client Radamel Falcao has even been mentioned as a possible reinforcement for 2015/16, when the club hope (and even expect) to return to the Champions League.

For now, that is the priority. Sunday’s draw meant Valencia slipped to fourth, behind Atleti, and the race is far from run, with Unai Emery’s strong Sevilla side breathing down their necks, three points behind.

In the medium term, it is Lim’s vision of finally completing the club’s long-delayed new stadium, the 61,500-capacity Nou Mestalla, by the club’s centenary in 2019 which will give them sufficient financial clout to compete at the top. At the moment, fans hope that the know-how of Lim and Mendes will pick up the slack.