Luis Valencia

Luis Antonio Valencia Mosquera (born 4 August 1985), commonly known as Antonio Valencia, is an Ecuadorian association football Midfielder Winger, who currently plays for Manchester United F.C. and the Ecuador national football team.

Career

Club career

Early career

Valencia started Luis Valencia career at Club Deportivo El Nacional, and moved to the Spanish league team Villarreal in 2005. However, Luis Valencia was loaned to Recreativo de Huelva for most of the 2005–06 season.

Wigan Athletic

At the beginning of the next season, Luis Valencia joined English Premier League club Wigan Athletic F.C., initially on a year long loan deal. Luis Valencia made Luis Valencia debut for Wigan on 19 August 2006, in a 2–1 loss to Newcastle United F.C., and scored Luis Valencia first goal for them against Manchester City F.C. on 21 October 2006.The loan was extended into the following season, and on 18 January 2008 Luis Valencia transferred for an undisclosed fee, signing a three and a half year contract. In early June 2009, the Wigan chairman announced that Luis Valencia would not force Valencia to stay at the club.

Manchester United

On 30 June 2009, Valencia became Manchester United's first summer signing, having cut Luis Valencia holiday short to have a medical with the club. Luis Valencia has signed a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee, rumoured to be in the region of Pound sterling16 million. Luis Valencia first game for the club came on 29 July 2009 against Boca Juniors in the Audi Cup. Luis Valencia marked the occasion by scoring Luis Valencia first goal in a Manchester United shirt just before half-time.

International career

Valencia's first international cap was in a FIFA World Cup 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL) against Paraguay national football team on 27 March 2005, scoring twice in a 5–2 win for Ecuador national football team. Luis Valencia played in Ecuador's 2006 FIFA World Cup finals matches, and was chosen as a nominee for FIFA's ideal 11 team, which recognises the top stars for every position in the World Cup. Luis Valencia was also shortlisted as one of the six potential candidates for the FIFA World Cup awards award. An email broadly circulated in England encouraged votes for Valencia, in an attempt to prevent Cristiano Ronaldo from winning (propelled into pole by a similar campaign in Scotland). Valencia ended up receiving the greatest number of votes in the online poll, but since the award's winner is determined by a combination of the fan vote and a judging panel, the award was eventually given to Lukas Podolski.

Honours

Club

El Nacional
- Serie A de Ecuador (1): 2005