Manchester
United manager Jose Mourinho cannot think of a better right-back than Antonio
Valencia.
Jose
Mourinho says Manchester United defender Antonio Valencia is the best
right-back in football.
United
triggered a one-year contract extension for the 31-year-old this week, tying
him to the club until 2018.
Initially
signed as a winger in 2009, Valencia has established himself as a key cog in
Mourinho's defence, making 23 starts across all competitions this season.]
And
Mourinho is overjoyed with his performances, which he believes have put him at
the top of his new position and made him fully deserving of his new deal.
"I
don't think of it is a reward, I don't see it in this perspective,"
Mourinho said to MUTV.
"I
just think he is the best right-back you can have. There is no better
right-back in football. It is just for us to keep the best. I don't think it is
a reward.
"It
is a privilege for us to have such a good player and such a good man.
"Antonio
is playing better than ever, I think. This season he is playing
magnificently."
Mourinho,
who revealed last year he had once wanted to sign the Ecuador international for
Real Madrid, saw Valencia's potential to star as a right-back at an early
stage.
"He was not playing at right-back and yes,
I wanted him to play at right-back," the manager said of his failed bid to
take him to Spain.
"But Manchester United was intelligent and
strong. They immediately stopped any feeling about any possibility."
Valencia's major honours at Old Trafford include
two Premier League titles, in 2011 and 2013, as well as FA Cup and EFL Cup
medals.
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