download All Football App

Alba, Villa, Neto... the Mediterranean corridor from Valencia for Barcelona

  /  autty

Neto is the latest player to move up Spain's Mediterranean coastline from Valencia to Barcelona, following in the footsteps of the likes of Jordi Alba and David Villa.

The Brazilian goalkeeper completed his switch to the Camp Nou on Thursday for an initial fee of 26 million euros.

The first player to leave the Estadio Mestalla for Barcelona in the 21st century was Gerard Lopez during the 2000/01 season. He arrived for a fee of 21 million euros and left for free after five years sat on the bench.

The next Valencia player to join Barcelona was David Villa in 2010 when he completed a 40 million euro deal. His goals fired Spain to World Cup glory that summer and he went on to become a key man under Pep Guardiola at the Camp Nou.

Jordi Alba has played 300 games for the Blaugrana since joining from Valencia in 2012 - the 14 million euros that was paid for him seems like a bargain now.

After doing successful business with Valencia, Barcelona couldn't continue the trend in their next four signings from Los Che.

Jeremy Mathieu did a job during his time at the Camp Nou but wasn't up to standard, leaving for free four years after joining for 20 million euros.

Andre Gomes and Paco Alcacer arrived with high expectations but were unable to produce the quality they'd shown in a Valencia shirt for Barcelona.

The less said about Jeison Murillo's recent six-month loan move the better.