Valencia sign Kondogbia on permanent deal from Inter

Dom Farrell

Valencia sign Kondogbia on permanent deal from Inter image

Valencia have signed Inter and France midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia on a permanent basis following a successful season on loan at the Mestalla.

Kondogbia has signed a contract running until 2022 and the transfer fee is reported to be in the region of €25 million (£22m/$29m).

Valencia have confirmed the 25-year-old's deal contains a release clause of €80m (£70m/$93m).

"I'm very happy and proud to be part of this team," he told the club's website. "Valencia is a wonderful club and I want to be part of its history.

"We all know Valencia is an ambitious club, which for me is important. I also want to take a step forward in my career and things are going well."

Kondogbia, who joined Inter from Monaco in June 2015, made 31 La Liga appearances and scored four times this season as Valencia sealed a return to the Champions League with a fourth-place finish.

However, his form was not good enough to earn a place in Didier Deschamps' France squad for the 2018 World Cup.

"Things in football aren't always fair," he told Valencia's club radio station when discussing the snub.

"I'm proud of my team and myself. I've done my job but it's not just that, there are other factors that count in order to get the call-up.

"I knew it would be difficult but the most important thing is that we have done a great job and we are happy.

"The work is done and the performance of each player has improved."

Dom Farrell

Dom Farrell Photo

Dom is the senior content producer for Sporting News UK. He previously worked as fan brands editor for Manchester City at Reach Plc. Prior to that, he built more than a decade of experience in the sports journalism industry, primarily for the Stats Perform and Press Association news agencies. Dom has covered major football events on location, including the entirety of Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup in Paris and St Petersburg respectively, along with numerous high-profile Premier League, Champions League and England international matches. Cricket and boxing are his other major sporting passions and he has covered the likes of Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Wladimir Klitschko, Gennadiy Golovkin and Vasyl Lomachenko live from ringside.