Madrid, July 22 (IANS) Spanish La Liga outfit Valencia have completed the signing of Australian international goalkeeper Matthew Ryan on a six-year contract.
The 23-year-old, who has 18 caps for his country and formed part of the squad for the 2014 World Cup finals, joins from Belgian side Club Bruges after being named as the best goalkeeper in the Belgian football league for the past two seasons, reported Xinhua news agency.
Ryan will help cover for Brazilian goalkeeper, Diego Alves, who will be out of action for several months after severing his cruciate knee ligament in the last game of last season.
“I’m very happy and excited to be joining as big a club as Valencia CF,” said Ryan on the Valencia website on Tuesday.
“I know that the club is very important institution in the world of football and that this move is a big step in my professional career.
“They are a side with fantastic players, who had a great campaign and took fourth place in the league. Our main objective now is to qualify for the Champions League.”
Valencia chairwoman Lay Hoon Chan said that although Ryan was young he was “ambitious and has a huge potential”.