Víctor Valdés Arribas (Spanish pronunciation:[ˈbiɣtoɾβalˈdesaˈriβas]; born 14 January 1982) is a Spanishfootball coach and former professional player who played as agoalkeeper.
He spent most of his professional career withBarcelona inLa Liga appearing in 535 official games whilst winning 21 major titles. Valdés won theRicardo Zamora Trophy for the league's least scored-against goalkeeper five times, four of which consecutively.[3] After leaving Barcelona in 2014, he played forManchester United,Standard Liège andMiddlesbrough before retiring in 2017.
Valdés playing for Barcelona during a match againstMallorca in 2007
On 17 June 2007, in the last match ofLa Liga, Valdés matched a goalkeeping record held by former Barcelona goalkeeperAndoni Zubizarreta by starting, and never being substituted, in all 38 matches of theLa Liga season.[15]
"For me, Valdes is the best in the world. When Barça need calm, he transmits that. He also has great capacity and handling."
Valdés set the Barcelona club record for not conceding a goal in European competition with a clean sheet againstRangers on 7 November 2007, which saw him re-write the Barça record books after not conceding a goal for 466 minutes.[17] Valdés was beaten twice byLyon captainJuninho through a 45-yard free kick and a late penalty kick at theStade de Gerland, ending his streak.[18] In the2006–07 and2007–08 seasons, however, Barça failed to win a major trophy. On 3 February 2008, Valdés captained Barcelona for the first time in a 1-0 league win at home againstOsasuna.
On 16 May 2010, Valdés won his fourth league title as Barcelona clinched asecond successive Spanish league title withPep Guardiola's side, ending the season with 99 points.[19]
On 29 August 2011, Valdés played his 410th match with Barcelona and equaledAndoni Zubizarreta's record as Barcelona's goalkeeper with the most appearances.[20]
"For me, the three best goalkeepers in the world areCasillas,Buffon, and Valdes."
In 2012, Valdés made a goalkeeping error against Real Madrid in theSupercopa de España that culminated inÁngel Di María scoring a decisive goal and narrowing down Barcelona's two-goal advantage. Real Madrid went on to win the Super Cup in the second leg at theSantiago Bernabéu.
On 1 May 2013, in a 3–0Champions League semi-final loss toBayern Munich atCamp Nou, Valdés made his 100th appearance in the competition, becoming the 17th player to do so.[22] Later that month, Valdés announced that he would not renew his Barcelona contract, which was due to expire at the end of the2013–14 season. He cited the pressure of representing the club and stated that he had declared his wish to leave early enough for the club to find a replacement.[23]
On 26 March 2014, in a 3–0 victory againstCelta Vigo, Valdés tore hisanterior cruciate ligament in the 22nd minute of the match and was substituted off, and was ruled out for the rest of the season, ending his Barcelona career and ruling him out of the2014 FIFA World Cup.[24]
He currently holds the club records as goalkeeper withmost appearances in the league and in official competition, breakingAndoni Zubizarreta's records during the 2011–12 season.
In January 2014, prior to the conclusion of his contract with Barcelona, Valdés signed a pre-contract agreement to joinLigue 1 sideMonaco at the end of the season; however, Valdés' injury led to Monaco pulling out of the agreement.[25] On 23 October 2014,Manchester United offered Valdés the chance to complete his rehabilitation from a knee injury and to work his way back to fitness with the club.[26] He was offered a contract in January 2015,[27] and on 8 January signed an 18-month deal, with the option of a further year, as backup for compatriotDavid de Gea.[28] As part of a compensation package for reneging on their deal with Valdés, Monaco agreed to pay the difference between the £150,000 weekly wage he stood to earn with them and the lower salary offered by Manchester United.[29]
Valdés played his first match since his knee injury on 26 January, featuring for United'sUnder-21 team in a 2–1 home win overLiverpool. Before the game, he gave a team talk based on the teachings of his former manager Guardiola.[30] He made his first-team debut on 17 May against Arsenal atOld Trafford, replacing the injured De Gea for the final 16 minutes and conceding anown goal byTyler Blackett for a 1–1 draw.[31] A week later he made his first start for the team in their last game of the season away toHull City, keeping a clean sheet in a goalless draw which relegated the opponents.[32]
On 15 July 2015, Manchester United managerLouis van Gaal announced that Valdés had been placed on the transfer list after it was claimed he had refused to play in a reserve game.[33] The following month, he was not given a squad number for the upcoming season.[34] A transfer to Turkey'sBeşiktaş fell through as personal terms could not be agreed.[35] Despite subsequently being named in Manchester United's Premier League squad,[36] reports confirmed Valdés was only named to conform to Premier League rules and not being offered a way back.[37][38][39]
On 23 January 2016, Manchester United announced that Valdés would be moving to Belgian clubStandard Liège on a six-month loan deal.[40] He made his debut a week later in a 2–0 win atOH Leuven in theBelgian Pro League.[41] On 20 March, Valdés won the2016 Belgian Cup Final, beatingClub Brugge 2–1.[42] His loan spell was cut short on 29 April after the club decided to allow more youth players the opportunity to play in games at the end of the season.[43]
On 7 July 2016, Valdés signed a two-year deal on a free transfer at recently promotedMiddlesbrough, managed by compatriotAitor Karanka.[44] On 13 August 2016, Valdés made his debut in a 1–1 draw againstStoke City.[45] On 22 October 2016, Valdés kept his first clean sheet of the season in a 0–0 draw againstArsenal.[46] The club entered the relegation zone in March 2017 after a 2–0 loss to Stoke City,[47] with Karanka sacked later that month.[48][49] Valdés, as well as fellow goalkeeperBrad Guzan, left the club on 1 July 2017.[50][51] Although he had offers from several clubs in Spain to prolong his career, Valdés retired from professional football in August 2017;[52] after remaining without a club for the first half of the 2017–18 season, he later confirmed his official retirement in January 2018.[53]
On 16 August 2005, Valdés was called up for a friendly game againstUruguay, but did not take the field.[54] After being overlooked by various coaches of the Spanish national side for several years,[55][56] on 20 May 2010, he was included byVicente del Bosque inSpain's final 23-man squad for the2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa as the third-choice goalkeeper behind captainIker Casillas andPepe Reina wearing the number 12 shirt.[57]
He was also in the Spanish squad which reached the final of the2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil, losing out 3–0 to the hosts.[62][63] His sole appearance in a major tournament came in their last group game, keeping a clean sheet in a 3–0 win overNigeria at theEstádio Castelão inFortaleza.[64]
Valdés was considered fiercely competitive and demanding, demonstrating great mental strength and concentration to be alert during long spells of ball domination, and was superb at one-on-ones.[65]
In his prime, Valdés was considered to be a successful and generally high quality goalkeeper, albeit somewhat inconsistent, and is regarded as one of Barcelona's best ever goalkeepers.[55][66][67] An authoritative presence in the area, with good reflexes, handling, positioning, and shot-stopping abilities, he was known for his agility and composure in goal, as well as his ability to produce decisive saves, in particular after not being tested for long stretches of time; however, he was also prone to errors on occasion, in particular in his early career.[68][69] In addition to his goalkeeping abilities, he was known in particular for his vision, footwork, distribution, control and skill with the ball at his feet, which enabled him to play the ball out on the ground or launch an attack from the back; throughout his career, he also stood out for his intelligence, ability to read the game, and his speed and bravery when coming off his line to claim the ball on the ground in one on one situations, and also excelled at anticipating opponents outside his area who had beaten the offside trap, and often functioned as asweeper-keeper.[66][67][70][71]
On 1 June 2018, Valdés returned to football as a manager by acquiring hisUEFA Pro Licence alongside compatriots such asXavi,Raúl andXabi Alonso.[72] Valdés started coaching amateur sideED Moratalaz's youth ranks, where he achieved two regional titles.[73] On 19 July 2019, Valdés returned to Barcelona to coach itsJuvenil A side.[74] He was sacked on 7 October due to disagreements with La Masia directorPatrick Kluivert.[75]
Valdés returned to the touchline in May 2020, when he was appointed the manager ofUA Horta in the fourth-tierTercera División.[76] He left in January 2021 in order to 'focus onJoan Laporta's presidential project' as reported byMundo Deportivo, with Laporta wanting to ake Valdes part of the new board if he won the presidential election in March 2021.[77]
Valdés married Colombian model Yolanda Cardona in June 2017 in a Catholic ceremony attended by former Barcelona teammates and dignitaries.[80] The couple have two sons and a daughter.[81]
^Piedrabuena, Celes (12 May 2012)."Víctor Valdés, un Zamora de oro" [Víctor Valdés, a golden Zamora Trophy winner].Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved17 October 2025.
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