Antonio Valencia had a truly brilliant career, most well known for his time at United.
Over the decade he spent at Old Trafford, the Ecuadorian right-back represented the squad on 339 occasions in all competitions, grabbing 25 goals and 58 assists, an impressive record for a defender at the time.
Having arrived from Wigan for €18.8 million in 2009, Valencia was part of the United team which who the Premier League twice, the Europa League in 2016/17, FA Cup in the same year, three English Community Shields and two English League Cups.
Valencia’s impressive record at United is won that has seen him win trophies all over, with an Ecuadorian league title, a Campon Copa Ecuador title and a Spanish Segunda Division league title to his name.
Across all of his clubs, Valencia has wracked up 483 appearances with 33 goals and 73 assists, as well as a further 99 appearances for Ecuador with 11 goals and 20 assists for his country.
Now, the veteran right-back is set to return to Old Trafford for a charity match between Manchester United and Celtic legends in September.
Manchester United have reported that Valencia will be taking to the pitch alongside Dimitar Berbatov, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt, headed by Bryan Robson as manager and Andy Cole in the assistant’s position.
Valencia spoke to United’s official website, unable to hide his excitement, saying: “I’m so much looking forward to it. Every time that I get the invitation, I make sure that I can be there. It’s going to be fun to see so many friends, the stadium and my former team-mates.”
He continued: “I’m really anticipating it. It was really great last time, an incredible game against a historic rival of ours and just to be able to help the Foundation.
“They are why I like to come to Manchester to support this, of course, because it’s a really tough job to do. What they are doing for the young people around the Manchester area, and elsewhere, I know how much work goes into it.
“I’ve been an ambassador for UNICEF, while I was in Manchester, and I bought my own Foundation here in Ecuador. I try to help as many kids as possible. It’s something I’ve always been keen to do.”
When discussing the opportunity of facing Celtic, the 38-year-old commented: “I have a very good memory of Scottish people and how nice they are. Not just with my teammates, not only at United but also with Wigan. And, obviously, especially the boss – Sir Alex Ferguson. I’m really expecting this to be a lot of fun.”
The game is set to be on 7th September 2024 at Old Trafford organised by the Manchester United Foundation with more names still to be announced.
