Gaizka Mendieta is considered to be one of the greatest players in Valencia CF's 100-year history, having helped the team to two Champions League finals and been a Balon d'Or nominee. He played for the club for nine seasons, accumulating more than 360 games and scoring 62 goals.

Ahead of the club's Centenary, he chatted to VCF Media in an extensive interview.

"I choose to join Valencia CF because obviously they were a great club. My agent -my father- understood that, although I was going to play less than I would for other clubs who had made offers, I would improve and learn a lot because of the type of players here, and the coaches who were brought in by club like Valencia CF. He was right, because that was the case."

"It was one of my dreams to be part of the club's history. I wanted to be remembered, when I stopped playing or when I left Valencia CF, as someone who was a very important part of club history. That was an aim that I set for myself as a player and as a person. It's one of my greatest successes that I'm most proud of, to have people still remember Mendieta as an historic part of the club. There are no bigger achievements than that as a player and as a person. Valencia CF have 100 years of history and being remembered as part of it is one of the things that makes me most happy."

Watch the full VCF Media interview to ffind out more of Mendieta's reflections on his time at Valencia CF