Matching truly exceptional support with some of the world’s brightest talents and the leadership of one the brightest young coaches in Europe, things were looking rosy for Valencia. Based in Spain’s third biggest city, Valencia are one of Europe’s most supported clubs with the ageing Mestalla regularly holding 55,000 fans with some 20,000 supporters on the season ticket waiting list. The capacity issue was set to be solved in 2010 by moving into the imaginatively named Nou Mestalla until a massive bombshell hit the club.

Valencia are a club in massive debt. Before this burden was revealed in 2008, Los Che started impressively under new coach Unai Emery who remains in charge of the club. They managed to secure 12 points out of 15 at the start of the 2008/09 La Liga season before revelations that the club was some €400m in debt and that players hadn’t been paid rocked the foundations of the six time Spanish Champions.

It was incredible to think that a side who, at the start of the decade, had made consecutive appearances in Champions League finals could be in a position that player’s salaries could go unpaid but it was quickly becoming a reality that Valencia were in financial peril.

Understandably, performances slumped. They managed to arrest the slide for a short while by securing a loan, which seemed to inject a sense of resurgence into the undoubtedly talented side and they managed to secure a Europa League spot by finishing sixth in the league. Whilst this was a relatively poor season in comparison to the previous campaigns where Champions League football was a formality (ignoring the nightmare-ish 2007/08 season), a top 6 finish was a huge accomplishment for Emery’s men given the circumstances. With solutions starting to be found under new president Manolo Llorente, Valencia managed to keep a hold of David Villa, David Silva and Juan Mata with the reasoning being seemingly straight forward – if we keep performing on the field, everything else will fall into place.

In Silva, Villa and the very young Mata Los Che had three of Europe’s best young prospects. Villa and Silva had featured in Spain’s magnificent Euro 2008 conquest and with a solid defensive base and Villa’s impressive goal scoring record, Valencia managed to secure a third place position and a Champions League spot. It was an incredible achievement for the club who had effectively ignored their plight and performed week in, week out, despite rumours of a two tier demotion being mooted amongst some of the Spanish press. Whilst Valencia should have been celebrating the new dawn that the Nou Mestalla would have brought in 2010, it’s safe to say that qualifying for the Champions League was cause for a party in itself.

That qualification allowed Valencia some breathing space financially, and although 2010 World Cup winners David Villa and David Silva could no longer be kept at the Mestalla, things weren’t all doom and gloom. With Emery still at the helm Valencia continued to succeed in the 2010/11 season against all odds. Whilst losing their two most influential and talented players would be a blow to every side, Emery acted smartly by bringing ex-Real Madrid hitman Roberto Soldado for a well-priced €10m and pairing him alongside the ever improving Juan Mata. Valencia managed another third place finish which has managed to keep the wolf from the door for a little while longer.

This summer has seen Valencia move smartly in the transfer window. They may have lost some experienced La Liga performers in the shape of, amongst others, David Navarro and Joaquin but they’ve managed to secure the signatures of the exciting Pablo Piatti from Almeria and ex-QPR man Dani Parejo, who was Getafe’s brightest light last season. It’s also worth mentioning that they have captured the incredibly talented Sergio Canales on a season long loan from Real Madrid, and with Juan Mata still at the Mestalla for the time being it’s safe to consider Valencia as one of Europe’s most talented footballing sides.

As with every season since the news broke of the critical state of Valencia’s finances, securing Champions League football is incredibly important for Los Che. With Real Madrid and Barcelona a class apart, it is a league in itself fighting for those last two qualification spots. With the usual suspects still strong (Villarreal, Sevilla, Atleti) and the spending spree at Malaga meaning that they can be feared as potential European contenders it will be another backs against the wall season for Valencia. Thankfully they have shown in the last few years that fighting against adversity is very much in their nature.