Dani Parejo: A Loyal Valencia Stalwart & One of Europe's Most Underrated Talents

When the legendary figure of Alfredo Di Stéfano hails you as the best player in Real Madrid's academy and a 'phenomenon', your footballing career has gotten off to a pretty good start.

A loan move from the reigning La Liga champions to the second tier of English football perhaps isn't the most obvious next step on the path to greatness but Dani Parejo's career has been punctuated by highs and lows from the very start.

Dani Parejo has become a stalwart at Valencia but began his career in the Spanish capital / Quality Sport Images/Getty Images

Just nine minutes after coming on to make his Queen's Park Rangers debut in August 2008, the 19-year-old Parejo didn't have long to soak up a landmark moment in his career before he was abruptly introduced to an abiding stereotype of English football. Parejo remembered: "The first time anyone tackled me was a direct red [card].”

The teenager's departure for west London prompted Di Stéfano to actively boycott Real Madrid's B-team games as there was little to see without his beloved Parejo pulling the strings in midfield. Four and a half months later he was back in that famous white kit but wasn't afforded a single start.

Two seasons at Getafe saw Parejo enjoy his first run of consistent, top flight football as the smaller side from the capital reached the Copa del Rey semi-finals and earned qualification for the Europa League.

But it would be his 2011 arrival in Spain's third city, Valencia, which would begin the tumultuous love-affair that ran parallel to Parejo's development into one of Spanish football's best midfielders.

Parejo has spent the best part of a decade in Valencia's midfield / Quality Sport Images/Getty Images

Over the span of nine seasons at the Mestalla, Parejo has seen no fewer than 12 different managers in the dugout, with - it's fair to say - mixed success.

This constant chop and change of coaches has inevitably spawned a head-spinning churn of personnel on the pitch as the club have unsurprisingly struggled for a consistent run of results. The last two seasons may have ended in European qualification but the two immediately prior saw back-to-back 12th-placed finishes.

Parejo himself recognises this lack of continuity hasn't led to the most helpful environment, admitting: “It’s been difficult here. Lots of changes of coach, very unstable, big news stories every three days, the sporting director resigned, the coach went, Voro, the delegate, came as coach, then he went, then he came again. There was instability …”

However, Parejo himself has at least been one source of consistency amongst this upheaval.

Parejo is the only player still at Valencia from the squad he joined back in 2011 / Quality Sport Images/Getty Images

It was the former Arsenal manager Unai Emery who brought the 22-year-old to the Mediterranean city but Parejo truly flourished under the stewardship of another future Premier League boss, Nuno Espírito Santo.

The Wolverhampton Wanderers tactician steered Valencia - who had finished eighth the previous season - to fourth during his debut campaign in 2015. Parejo netted 11 goals and laid on five assists in La Liga as he was able to both control and create from a range of midfield roles that year, often as the closest player to the striker.

Espírito Santo soon added his name to the growing list of former Valencia managers and Parejo endured the most testing period of his career in the following two years. The revolving door attached to the manager's office at Valencia was a picture of constant motion - with standards sinking as low as Gary Neville for a forgettable four months - as Parejo bore the brunt of fans' unrest.

While Parejo will be the first to admit his performances at times did dip - although, he was often the side's leading man on the pitch - it was he who was blamed. Parejo outlined that the fan view was: "If we lost it was my fault," and was subjected to verbal abuse while walking the streets with his family.

Despite being arguably his side's most consistent performer, it was Parejo who was targeted by fans as Valencia struggled between 2015 and 2017 / Denis Doyle/Getty Images

However, the arrival of Marcelino in the summer of 2017 proved a significant turning point as the incoming coach restructured his side around Parejo, shifting him into a slightly deeper role.

Marcelino almost exclusively deployed a flat 4-4-2 during his two seasons with Valencia and for all but a dozen of Parejo's appearances in that midfield duo, he played alongside either Geoffrey Kondogbia or Francis Coquelin - two players who's first thoughts are about halting the opposition's attack, rather than launching one of their own. That would be Parejo's task.

Marcelino and his system inspired Parejo to produce some of his best performances for years and even earned him a first international call up. Back at Valencia, the pair combined to achieve consecutive top four finishes before Parejo got his first taste of silverware last season, as he led the team to a shock Copa del Rey victory at Barcelona's expense.

Despite this success, Marcelino couldn't survive the itchy trigger finger of Valencia's hierarchy for long and the Spaniard departed in the summer. Marcelino's departure has certainly been felt and with ten games to play, Parejo and Valencia - under the less than inspiring Albert Celades - are on the cusp of a five-way battle for third and fourth this season.

But with Parejo pulling the strings, Valencia can't rule out anything quite yet.