The €10 Million Valencia Have Choked On: Sato and Arnau Martinez Vanish from the Rotation

Valencia CF spent close to ten million euros last summer on the only two players they paid a transfer fee for: Japanese playmaker Sato and right-back Arnau Martinez. Both began the season as starters under Carlos Corberan, but since the coach was dismissed after matchday five, neither has regained a meaningful role. The money has evaporated in the rotation while the team fights to get its LaLiga campaign back on track.

• Sato started the first three league games and Corberan's final match, but has gone four games without playing a single minute since.
• Arnau Martinez cost over five million euros and started all three games under Corberan; with Oscar he played eight minutes and with Aguirre just four.
• Valencia paid four million for Sato and over five and a half for Arnau, an investment that currently has no reflection in the starting eleven.
• Maffeo, signed just days before Arnau, has become an undisputed starter and blocks the Catalan's path.

Sato: From Starting Bet to Warming the Bench

Valencia paid four million euros for Sato, a figure that stood out in the Peter Lim era of minimal investment. The Japanese midfielder looked set to become a key piece in the attacking midfield, and Carlos Corberan trusted him with a starting role in the first three LaLiga matches. He also started the final game of the Valencian coach's tenure and was a substitute against Barcelona.

Since Corberan's dismissal, Sato's role has changed completely. Neither interim coach Oscar Fernandez nor Javier Aguirre has given him a single minute. He has now gone four consecutive games without stepping onto the pitch, watching from the bench and falling out of the rotation altogether. A four-million-euro bet that is currently producing no sporting return.

Arnau Martinez: An Investment of Over Five Million with No Spot

Arnau Martinez's case is even more striking. Valencia spent the entire summer chasing a right-back and, just days after securing Pablo Maffeo's arrival from Mallorca, paid Girona more than five and a half million euros for the Catalan defender. A double bet for the same position that soon tilted heavily in one direction.

Arnau started all three matches he played under Corberan, though in several of them he appeared as a center-back due to defensive absences. With interim coach Oscar Fernandez he played eight minutes, and under Aguirre he has added just four. Maffeo has seized the right flank and the former Girona player's opportunities have shrunk to rare appearances. The five-million-plus outlay for him has no presence in the team right now.

A Poorly Allocated Investment That Echoes Cenk and Marcos Andre

The current situation of Sato and Arnau Martinez calls to mind other recent Valencia signings that ended with no return. It happened with Cenk Ozkacar, the Turkish center-back who arrived for a significant fee and left without ever establishing himself. The same was true for Marcos Andre, another million-euro outlay that slipped away without leaving a mark at Mestalla.

The summer window left Valencia with very little spending and, worse, poorly distributed. The only two players for whom a transfer fee was paid have vanished from the team following Corberan's exit, and the nearly ten million euros spent have no place in the current lineup. A mismatch that complicates the club's sporting present and fuels questions about squad planning.

How Valencia's Rotation Looks Without Sato and Arnau

With Maffeo settled at right-back and the attacking midfield role shared among other players, neither Sato nor Arnau Martinez has a clear place in the current plans. Valencia is navigating this stretch of the season with a thin squad in which, paradoxically, two of the summer's most expensive signings do not count. The battle for a starting spot has closed for them, at least over the last few matchdays.

FAQ: Valencia's Investment in Sato and Arnau Martinez