Valencia CF pre‑season England tour

In late July 2026 Valencia CF began a pre‑season camp in England, using the English national team’s St George’s Park training centre alongside Barcelona. The squad arrived with several injuries, notably forward Sadiq Umar, defender Dimitri Foulquier and right‑back Rubén Iranzo, while midfielder Pepelu trained with limited capacity.

The club scheduled two closed‑door friendlies: a 2‑1 win over Derby County followed by a match against Stoke City at the Bet365 Stadium on 1 August. The Stoke fixture was broadcast live on regional channel À Punt, with commentary from former captain Fernando Gómez Colomer. Coach Carlos Corberán used the games to evaluate new signings such as Justin de Haas, Aliou Dieng and Ryunosuke Satō, and to give goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski his first summer appearance. Several players remained sidelined, including Pepelu (rib injury) and long‑term absentees Diego López, José Copete, Alberto Marí, Sergi Canós and Rubén Iranzo. After the England matches, Valencia planned to return to Spain to finish its preparation, culminating with the Trofeu Taronja against Newcastle United on 8 August.

The Stoke City friendly ended in a 1‑1 draw. Arnaut Danjuma opened the scoring in the 12th minute after a Javi Guerra assist, while a Monferrer own‑goal equalised in the second half. Corberán again rotated the squad, debuting Dimitrievski and pairing Danjuma with Guerra and Ryunosuke Satō. Injured forward Pepelu and the long‑term absentees remained unavailable, and both clubs praised the match as a useful benchmark ahead of their domestic campaigns.