Twenty-one-year-old Álex Blanco is back at Valencia CF this year, after two loan spells at Deportivo Alavés and Real Zaragoza.

The product of the VCF Academy is no stranger to the first team, having participated in the early stages of the 2018/19 Copa del Rey campaign -which ended in glory for the club. He is also made appearances in the top flight, when at Alavés, and looks to do the same for Valencia CF this term.

“I was looking forward to coming back here, because it's my home. I've been here since my Cadete days, so coming back here to join the first team is a source of pride -as it is for any VCF Academy player. What I have in mind now is working hard to convince the coach that I can be here,” Blanco told VCF Media during preseason.

“For me it would be a fruit of this work that I've been doing for years. It would be a source of pride to represent this club, which for me is my home.”

Blanco has been busy this summer with Zaragoza, who reached the delayed playoffs for promotion from the Segunda División. Despite the hectic schedule, he believes his time at other clubs has served him well.

“The playoffs with Zaragoza ended a short time ago, and I barely had a holiday. I was straight back here. Both my loan to Alavés and to Zaragoza were pretty good for me to mature as an athlete and as a person.

“I've got this unfinished business of wanting to debut for Valencia CF in LaLiga. I was able to do it in the Copa del Rey. I'm looking forward to getting back to Mestalla, and if that can be this weekend, then all the better.”