Jérémy Mathieu, 8th player to come from València CF to FC Barcelona

Jérémy Mathieu, 8th player to come from València CF to FC Barcelona

The last two Barça signings from Valencia were Jordi Alba and David Villa

Jérémy Mathieu is now a FC Barcelona player. The Frenchman, 30 years old, has become the seventh signing of the 2014-15 Luis Enrique squad, haing spent the last five seasons with València, where he played 176 partits and scored 7goals. However, Mathieu is not the only player who has packed his bags and made the journey from Valencia to Barcelona. With his signing, there have now been eight players who have made the same jouyrney.during

The first player to come was Domènec Torredeflot, who played for Barça during 1935 and 1936. Six years later came midfielder Vicent Sierra (1942-1945) and, in the 60's, came Josep Manuel Pesudo (1961-1966), one of the greatest goalkeepers of that era.

Folowing Pesudo, el FC Barcelona didn't sign any Valencia player until 1986, when Robert Fernández came to the Club. His greatest triumph with FC Barcelona was the Supercup when they defeated Sampdoria, in Berne, in 1989. Robert also won two Spanish Cups in a Barça shirt (1988 and 1990), before returning to Valencia in 1990.

Ten years later, in 2000, Gerard López came back to Barcelona, after playing in the academy teams at Barça and later making his debut in the Primera Division with Valencia CF. In his 5 seasons at Barça he played in several different positions, but injuries prevented him from cementing his place in the first team.

The third in four years

These last few seasons have been when more Valencia players have moved to Barcelona. In 2010, David Villa joined the Barça forward line. Over three seasons he scored 47 goals and won eight titles with Barça: two Leagues (2010/11 and 2012/13), one Champions (2010/11), one Spanish Cup (2011/12), one European Supercup (2011/12), two Spanish Supercups (2010/11 and 2011/12) and one World Club Championship (2011/12)

The Catalan player Jordi Alba, coincided with Villa. Alba, like Gerard López, came back to the Club where he was brought up. The left-back has become a regular in defence, since his arrival in 2012, and has won  one League title (2012/13) and the Spanish Supercup (2013/14). With Jordi Alba as a reference, it's now the turn of Jérémy Mathieu, who is signing for four seasons, with .an optional season more.

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