Parma’s excellent – and richly deserved – point taken at home to Juventus in the last round saw a fine performance against the Scudetto holders. Far from sitting back and defending, the Gialloblu were content to keep possession and push the visitors back. One man key to this strategy was Jaime Valdes.
The regista put in one of his best performances of the season, keeping play ticking over and orchestrating attacks from deep in midfield. Having endured a patchy start to the season, the Chilean is hopefully back to his playmaking best.
One team that certainly seems to think that way is Inter, who, after Catania rejected their advances for Francesco Lodi, have turned their attention to the 32-year-old as their hunt for a midfield string-puller continues. The Nerazzurri are supposedly offering €2m plus the loan of a young player. On last season’s performances, at least, that is a steal.
Arriving at the Ennio Tardini from Sporting CP on loan prior to the start of last season, he arrived without too much expectation, and was initially seen as nothing more than a journeyman squad player, having made over a century of appearances for Bari and Lecce either side of an incredibly short spell at Fiorentina, before moving on to becoming a first team regular at Atalanta.
This view wasn’t changed as the season begun, with coach Franco Colomba rarely using the fading trequartista. But, after the arrival of Roberto Donadoni with the Emiliani in dire relegation trouble, he almost instantly became a vital part of the first team – albeit in a rather unfamilar role.
The Chilean international was always traditionally used as an advanced or left-sided midfielder, though Donadoni’s introduction saw him moved off the bench and shifted to the deepest of three central midfielders in a 3-5-2. Valdes’ outstanding performances were a key factor behind Parma’s late surge up the table, playing incisive passes and very rarely giving the ball away. Parma’s had their very own Pirlo.
President Tommaso Ghirardi didn’t waste a second in making the loan deal permanent, ensuring Valdes’ stay at the Ennio Tardini until at least June 2014 for a fairly nominal sum of €1.8m Since the start of the new season he has struggled for the consistent excellence which saw him perform so impressively in the last campaign, though his display against Juventus served as a timely reminder of just what he brings to the side. His impact is only fully realised when he doesn’t play.
He averages more long balls per game (8.4) than anyone else in the squad, and his through ball accuracy is statistically the highest on the team. Equally, his total of 18 key passes is second only to Marco Marchionni for players who have played in at least ten games. Defensively he isn’t perfect, reflected in his picking up of eight yellow cards this season, though the value he adds creatively more than makes up for this.
So, whilst a potential signing of a 32-year-old by Inter may seem strange, it may well be an excellent short-term solution for a team lacking in a regista. One thing’s for sure, though – Parma fans will be praying that these rumours don’t come true.
