VALENCIA The Valencia CF has reached an agreement with Deportivo Alavés to acquire the services of Luis Rioja. This move can be interpreted as an immediate reaction from the club, after moving forward with the postponed sale of Giorgi Mamardashvili to Liverpool, in order to be able to allocate a portion of the money for the transfer of the Georgian goalkeeper and unblock the signing of the winger.
The left winger was one of the club’s targets in order to improve the squad, according to Corona and Baraja in their respective press conferences. With his arrival, Valencia, barring a surprise, will have completed its squad.
The player will sign for two seasons, until 2026, and the agreement between Valencia and Alavés is for a fixed fee of 1.2 million euros. Rioja travels with the team to Vigo this Thursday, so if he is registered in time, he could participate in the match against Celta.
The arrival of Rioja will help mitigate the absence of wingers in the Valencia squad, which right now only has Diego Lopez as a left winger, because although Rioja is left-footed and normally plays on the left side, he has also played on the right side.
Baraja has been without Fran Pérez, who has been absent since last May due to back problems, or Sergi Canós, who are both injured, and has therefore turned to several youth team players during the preseason and the first league matchday.
With this signing, the Valladolid coach would also have the option of placing Diego López on the right wing, his favourite position, as he has stressed on several occasions, or as a second striker.
The Valencian club said in a statement that the left winger “has a wealth of experience in Spanish football after playing more than 200 games” and that the Andalusian has joined Valencia “to provide verticality on the wings after his time at Deportivo Alavés, where he has played for the last three seasons, scoring 12 goals and providing 12 assists.”
The Spanish winger Luis Rioja, who has played for Deportivo Alavés for the last five seasons, was trained in the Real Madrid youth system. He then played for RC Celta de Vigo’s reserve team and Marbella FC, and joined Deportivo Alavés in the summer of 2019 from UD Almería. He led the team for the first three seasons and remained in the project despite the relegation after the 2020-21 season.
With the team, he returned to the elite on June 17, 2023 at the Ciutat de València against Levante UD. In total, he has played 189 games (138 of them in the First Division), 22 goals and 17 assists with the ‘Glorioso’ shirt.
“Luis Rioja has finished his time as a Deportivo Alavés player but he leaves behind an indelible legacy. For his professionalism and exemplary career, his effort, his commitment to the crest and his closeness in dealing with colleagues, employees, board of directors and fans, Deportivo Alavés can only express its gratitude, as well as wish him the best of luck in the future,” said the Basque club.
