Antonio Valencia: Former Manchester United captain joins star-studded Wythenshawe vets

Former Manchester United captain Antonio Valencia has joined the star-studded veteran team at Manchester club Wythenshawe AFC.

The 40-year-old spent 10 years at Old Trafford, winning two Premier League titles, an FA Cup, two League Cups and the Europa League.

The former Ecuador international joins a long list of ex-Premier League stars at Wythenshawe, including fellow title-winners Joleon Lescott, Danny Drinkwater, Marc Albrighton and Danny Simpson, plus ex-England frontman Emile Heskey and former Newcastle striker Papiss Cisse.

Valencia played 339 games for Manchester United and won 99 international caps, representing Ecuador at the World Cup in 2006 and 2014.

He retired from professional football in 2021 and has since founded his own academy, AV25, in his home country.

Wythenshawe told BBC Sport that Valencia joined through the network of former professionals already at the club and said he was "an amazing addition".

"As a community club with over 80 teams across men's, women's and junior football, it's always great for our players, volunteers and fans to see a player who has competed at the very top level spending time around the club and being part of the environment we're continuing to build," the club added.

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