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Valencia in talks to keep reserve striker Dominguez after goal burst

·By Paul Lindisfarne
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Valencia are in negotiations to extend the contract of reserve team striker Mario Domínguez, whose form in the second half of the season has transformed him from a fringe prospect into one of the most in-demand young forwards in Spanish football.

Tribuna Deportiva reported that the 22-year-old and the club have sat down to discuss a renewal, with his current deal expiring at the end of June. Domínguez joined Valencia from his native Granada in 2018 and has spent eight years progressing through the academy system.

His season statistics make the urgency clear. Domínguez has scored 16 goals for VCF Mestalla — Valencia's reserve side — this campaign, with ten of those coming in his last nine appearances. That finishing run is the kind that attracts attention from elsewhere, and clubs have begun monitoring his situation.

Valencia do hold a previously negotiated option to extend his contract by three seasons at first-team terms — a clause inserted into his last renewal that the club must exercise by May 31. The question is whether the sporting department will act on it, given that head coach Carlos Corberán has used Domínguez only sparingly at first-team level, handing him five appearances without a sustained run.

His camp's position is straightforward: executing the option is the baseline demonstration that Valencia genuinely believe in him. Anything short of that will be interpreted as a signal to move on.

Domínguez's path to this point has not been straightforward. He suffered three significant injuries — including an anterior cruciate ligament rupture in 2024 — that derailed what had been a promising early trajectory. This season represents his first sustained run of health and form since breaking into senior football.

Valencia sit 12th in La Liga with four games remaining, three points above the relegation zone. The club's priority is survival, but decisions on Domínguez and the shape of next season's squad cannot wait much longer.

His goals have made the choice simpler and more complicated at the same time.