2) Victor Valdes: Manchester United → Middlesbrough
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Once an integral goalkeeper for FC Barcelona, the decline of Valdes has been bewildering. Despite enjoying success with Barcelona, he wanted a move away. Manchester United snapped him up, but before his arrival to United at the end of the 2013-2014 season, he suffered an ACL injury.
He made his first Manchester United appearance for the Under 21 team, on 26 January 2015. Things quickly soured between the Spanish keeper and the Premier League club, when he allegedly refused to play for the reserve team. He was transfer listed by Louis van Gaal but was unable to make a move away from Old Trafford.
In January 2016 the Spaniard was loaned out to the Belgian side Standard Liège, where he garnered match minutes. It must have been a relief for Valdes when he penned a deal with Middlesbrough in the 2016-2017 transfer window, as he could finally rejuvenate his career.
Middlesbrough, a Premier League side that had just been promoted, have had a great transfer window given their position as a newcomer. Signings such as Alvaro Negredo and Calum Chambers have given them a fighting chance of staying the Premier League, but Valdes was one of the first of such star signings.
Not only was the keeper’s apparent decline surprising, but so was the transfer to a newly promoted club, showing the spending power clubs wield nowadays.
