Valencia goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski has had a tough time since arriving at Mestalla, and the North Macedonian international has taken to the media to express his frustration. Dimitrievski arrived as the replacement for Giorgi Mamardashvili, but has been restricted in terms of his opportunities since.
Signing on a free from Rayo Vallecano, Dimitrievski was slated to be the number one at Valencia two seasons ago. In a surprise twist though, Mamardashvili remained at the club for an extra year before completing a move to Liverpool. This season it looked as if he would be in for a starting spot, but Los Che ended up signing Julen Agirrezabala on loan from Athletic Club.
‘Agirrezabala has to play by contract’
With Dimitrievski still warming the bench, he opened up in an interview with Lazarov, he explained that Valencia must pay parent club Athletic penalties if Agirrezabala does not reach a certain number of matches. The quotes are provided by Marca.
“The club brought in another player who had a written contract stipulating that he had to play league matches. That was a shock to me. It meant there was no more competition for that position. He had to play, no matter what. Whether I played well or badly, I was going to be out. Otherwise, the club would have to pay penalties.”
As such, Dimitrievski was keen to leave in the summer transfer window, but claims that Valencia blocked him from doing so.
“But the club didn’t want to let me go. They kept asking for more, a little more, a little more. There were clubs from the four major leagues, as well as from Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Honestly, I was determined and ready for a change of scenery, but the club had its priorities because they kept asking for more.”
Dimitrievski missed out on bonus last season
The 31-year-old also confirmed that he missed out on a bonus last season that he would have received for playing 10 games. With Valencia having nothing on the line for the final game of the year, and Dimitrievski on nine appearances, Carlos Corberan did not select him, and thus he missed out on €300k. The veteran shot-stopper explained that he was still ready to play for Los Che, but was clear he wanted games wherever they came.
“In football, you never know what can happen. My desire is to play. I want to play for Valencia. We’re not having a good season, you can see that in the results. But I think that if I train well and I’m given the opportunity, I’ll respond without any problem, because I have experience, I have quality, and I’m ready to do it.”
