Antonio Valencia

Profile Overview

Luis Antonio Valencia Mosquera (Spanish pronunciation: [anˈtonjo βaˈlensja]; born 4 August 1985) is an Ecuadorian former professional footballer who played primarily as a right-sided player throughout his career, initially as a right winger, before developing into a right-back. He is regarded as one of the best Ecuadorian footballers of all time.
After progressing through the youth system at El Nacional, Valencia became a first team regular and made over 80 appearances for the club. He won the Ecuadorian Serie A with them before signing for La Liga side Villarreal in 2005. He only made two league appearances for the Spanish side in between loan spells at Recreativo for the 2005–06 season and later English Premier League club Wigan Athletic from 2006 to 2008. Wigan Athletic later signed Valencia on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee in January 2008.
His performances for Wigan Athletic soon attracted attention from several high-profile clubs, and he signed for Manchester United in June 2009. His time there established him as one of the greatest Ecuadorian players of all time, as Valencia was voted into the PFA Team of the Year in his debut season, and went on to win two Premier League titles, an FA Cup, two League Cups, three FA Community Shields and the UEFA Europa League, captaining the club in his final season. After ten years with United, Valencia returned to Ecuador in July 2019, signing with LDU Quito, with whom he won the inaugural Copa Ecuador in his first season. He announced his retirement in May 2021.
Valencia made his Ecuador debut in 2004 and has represented his country at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the 2007 Copa América, the 2011 Copa América, the 2014 FIFA World Cup, the Copa América Centenario and the 2019 Copa América. Valencia won 99 caps and scored 11 goals for his country.