It’s been a mixed season for Alvaro Negredo and Bruno Zuculini. Both were shipped out on loan to Valencia at the start of the season, and both have had rather contrasting loan spells in Spain. Negredo was returning to his homeland in the hope of resurrecting his career after a disappointing second half of his first season in England. Zuculini, on the other hand, was a new face in the City squad, but was shipped out to Spain just weeks after making his debut for the Blues.
It’s not been the season that either hoped for, with a lack of goals for one player and a lack of game time for the other. Negredo didn’t get a game for Los Che until late October after a setback when recovering from a broken foot suffered at City, and his first three games, which culminated in just 39 minutes of football, meant that the striker had little time to impress.
It took until December for Negredo to get his first goal for Valencia, but there were not many more to follow beyond that. On average, Negredo managed a goal every six league games this season, finishing on just five in what ended up being a successful season for Los Che, but not so much for the 29-year old. Not in goalscoring terms, but the effort put in by the Spaniard in each game is something which has not gone unnoticed by his team-mates. A personal highlight for the striker was a stunning half-volley from the edge of the box, sealing a 3-0 win against local rivals Levante.
Negredo was always the focal point of Valencia’s attacking play, with their fair share of chances coming from him. He created 22 chances in his 30 appearances, with four assists. While he may have been overshadowed by fellow striking partner Paco Alcacer, it’s not been the worst season for Negredo, who we can expect to see a lot more of in La Liga next season. Negredo himself will also be vying to start more games, with just 14 of those 30 appearances being in the starting line-up.
The 2014-15 season for Bruno Zuculini will be one to forget. After joining Valencia in August to get some first-team football, he saw the loan deal cancelled in late January with just 45 minutes of football to his name. That 45-minute cameo was in Valencia’s first home game of the season, a 3-0 win against Malaga. He was poor in that game, and, unfortunately for him, his season never really took off.
Zuculini joined Cordoba after his Valencia loan ended early, and featured in half of their 16 league games after he joined, as they were relegated with just 20 points from 38 games. He created one chance and had very little impact across the season, with the Andalusian side losing all eight games that he featured in. Like Negredo, Zuculini rarely completed 90 minutes, only doing so on two occasions.
