Valencia goalkeeper Diego Alves set for Brazil move

Rio de Janeiro, July 15: Valencia and Brazil goalkeeper Diego Alves is poised to join Brazilian football giants Flamengo, ending weeks of speculation about his future. According to Valencia football director Mateu Alemany, the Spanish club is negotiating fincial terms with Flamengo after 32-year-old Alves expressed his wish to leave, reports Xinhua news agency on Friday.

“There was origilly contact from (Deportivo) La Coru but now we are in talks with a Brazilian club, Flamengo to be specific,” Alemany was quoted as saying by the Globo newspaper. “We are in negotiations. I am aware that he wants to play for the club (Flamengo) and we are discussing it.”

Alves has made 146 first-team appearances for Valencia since his 2011 move from Almeria.

In 2016, he became the goalkeeper with the most pelty saves in Spain’s top flight, breaking Andoni Zubizarreta’s previous record of 16.

Last month Alves said his immediate priority was to become Brazil’s first-choice goalkeeper ahead of next year’s World Cup in Russia. IANS