At the age of just 24, José Luis Gayà has already reached the milestone of 200 official games for Valencia CF. To mark the occasion, the fullback opened the doors to his home in Pedreguer for an extensive chat about his career so far, the importance of the VCF Academy for the first team, memories of his debut and more.

“I had a dream, and that dream was to play at Mestalla,” recalls Gayá. “It wasn't necessarily to captain Valencia CF, but I had a dream of one day playing there. You keep making those dreams come true, which are so difficult to reach and which few people are able to do, and you value it more. I've spent a long time at Valencia CF, and the majority of my teammates at Alevin level have been left behind. It's very difficult to do what I've been able to do, and I value that. Sometimes this gets lost over time, and it's good to remember it.”

Game number 200 came against CD Leganés this season, and the Spaniard has been suffering from an injury since then. Having rested up during the international break, he expects to be back sooner rather than later.

“I feel good. We thought that the injury was going to be a little less serious, but it's a little tricky. I can't wait to come back to the team, and continue growing. I want to do big things, and this season is very exciting. I can't wait to play again.”

Up next is a game against Atletico Madrid, a match that Gayà sees as a clash between two similar sides.

“Atletico Madrid should be an example for us in every sense, and I think that we're fairly close to them. We'll see in the next game, which will show us where we really are, but I think that we've shown personality, such as when we went to Chelsea and won. We have no fear about this game, and I really think that we are close to the big teams.”

“We have to be ambitious. That’s the reality,” said Gayà. “We aren’t going to set a definitive objective, however cliched that might sound. We have to look at the next game, which is going to be very hard, win that and turn our attention to the following match. There are no easy games, so we have to forget about looking any further than the next game.”

Hear stories from Gayà’s 200 games so far with Valencia CF, as well as more of his assessment of the current team, in the accompanying VCF Media video.