Valbuena relishing Van Persie link up at Fenerbahce
After completing his move to Fenerbahce, Mathieu Valbuena is looking forward to playing alongside Robin van Persie in Istanbul.
Mathieu Valbuena is relishing the chance to link up with Robin van Persie after completing his switch to Fenerbahce on Thursday.
The Super Lig giants confirmed the acquisition of Valbuena from Lyon earlier this month for a figure reported to be somewhere between €3million and €4m.
With the transfer window open once again in Turkey the France international has put pen to paper on a two-year contract
He joins the likes of Volkan Sen, Gregory van der Wiel and Emmanuel Emenike in Istanbul, but it is the chance to work with Van Persie that has Valbuena excited the most.
"He is really great, a talented player," Valbuena said of the former Netherlands international.
"We know his career and clubs. He is really a great player. To play with him is really enjoyable for me. We have just trained together two times.
"Playing with these players is always a pleasure for the others but there is not only RVP in our team, we have other great players.
"The most important thing is to make that consistency and adaptation between us. If we do that, why can we not reach our goals?"
Valbuena was deemed surplus to requirements by Lyon after losing his starting spot to January signing Memphis Depay, the 32-year-old starting just 15 Ligue 1 games in 2016-17.
He is now looking to kick-start his career with Fener, who he admits have exceeded his expectations.
"I've been welcomed very well from the first day of coming here," he added.
"I'm very proud of being at Fenerbahce, because Fenerbahce is a very big club. When I visited the club's facilities, I realised that Fenerbahce is bigger than I thought.
"The goals which I have from now are to get on the pitch and fight to win trophies. We will give the best to make this club champion."