And blub board member Mohammad Al Hamelly has laid the credit at Milla’s door for Valdez’s arrival. “We started [the signing process] with coach Luis Milla… the positions that the coach needs players,” Al Hamelly told Sport360°.
“Luis Milla met with Valdez in Valencia and told him about Al Jazira, about our ambitions and our future plans, and it seems this encouraged Valdez to join Al Jazira.
“He had a lot of offers but after speaking to Milla, he preferred to join Al Jazira, so we are very happy to sign a big star like Valdez.”
The Pride of Abu Dhabi have now completed their quota of foreign signings, with Valdez joining fellow new boy Abdelaziz Barrada, Shin Hyung-Min and Ricardo Oliveira.
The club are hoping that Valdez will be the last piece of the puzzle in their search for a first league title since 2011, and believe that the Paraguayan international could take the Arabian Gulf League by storm.
“Al Jazira are really glad to have signed such a well-known player who will give the Arabian Gulf League a good image,” said Al Hamelly. “He will be a great addition to the players we have now in the league. He will be one of the stars of the Arabian Gulf League.
“Al Jazira are not choosing players on the basis of their CV. We have always been associated with big names, but we are always looking at the quality of a player, not his name or reputation. He is one element of the whole team; we hope that the whole team will be in good shape.”
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