Valencia president Anil Murthy has responded to the secret recordings of him published in Superdeporte.
Murthy was recorded discussing the futures of Carlos Soler and Jose Gaya, along with issues with the Spanish Federation.
He told VCF Media: "It was a work meeting in a restaurant, to promote the charity event 'La Nit De Valencia' on June 2nd. We had the presence of five Valencian businessmen, to explain the night and to try to get more Valencians and businesspersons involved in such an important night.
"Months ago, Superdeporte began a campaign to smear Valencia CF. That is very evident. It has been a long time since that newspaper was a point of reference in Valencia. They began a dishonest, interested campaign, after the club had refused to pay them dozens of thousands of euros to subsidise them.
"I am very surprised and even more disappointed. There were no codes or limits followed. It is unpleasant to have anybody record you without your consent, in a private situation. It was a private dinner to talk about a nice event. It was a normal conversation. It's true that it was relaxed in tone, but everybody can see that there is no attack or disqualification towards anybody.
"The most serious thing is that it was not only recorded, but adulterated and edited. For example: The audio recording about Carlos Soler. It was a mix between talking about his ambition, his desire if he were to leave, his will to do that well, what happened with Ferran Torres and his departure.
"It speaks very well of Ferran Torres, because he is now at Barcelona and the club sold him for a sum that I consider to be very good. He defended the club and our homegrown players.
"For example, the question was: 'What are you going to do with the youth players? Are they going to spend their whole lives at the club?' I explained clearly that, nowadays, in football there are players who have their own ambitions and projects, and that we have to respect those professionals. There are some who stay, and others who are going to leave. The project for the academy is to ensure that there is a pipeline of players who will move up to the first team. We have to respect the decisions of the players, as they are professionals.
"What happened with this way of editing what we said about Carlos Soler is simply surreal. It hurts the player and the club, and for what? The audio about Gayà is also edited. It mixes an idea, in which I said that he is a worthy captain for this club, and that he wants to fight after the defeat in the cup final. He was K.O.d. He was very disappointed to lose the final on penalties.
"It's true. They mixed that with an explanation of how Financial Fair Play works at clubs. When I say “José Luis" they put in another part. It is very evident. It is edited to cause damage."
Murthy revealed new contract talks with Soler and Gaya had commenced.
He continued: "We are negotiating with the agents of Carlos Soler and Gayà to renew their deals. Soler and Gayà, and also their agents, know that the club have limits. They are two international players, and they are top quality. Both would prefer to renew, but if in the end we do not reach an agreement, we must treat them well and let them continue with their dreams. Our preference as a club is that they stay. They are points of reference for the club and for the team."
Murthy also explained: "I see that some journalists, especially from Superdeporte, have wanted to make a big controversy with an amount of 100,000 euros that was mentioned. I'm going to explain it: Seven years ago, more or less, the club had, like the City Council or the Generalitat, a budget to work with the media for buying advertising. We decided that the priority for the club was to create our own voice to be able to speak to the fans directly, without a filter. We invested this money by creating VCF MEDIA, to whom I am speaking today.
"VCF MEDIA continues to grow. Previously in football, many clubs used this money to pay the press to pressure players into renewals, etc. We have moved away from this model, but Superdeporte and its criminal collaborator have decided to mix these things to harm Carlos Soler, me personally and the club. These things are surreal, but sometimes they happen."
