Spanish midfielder Oriol Romeu is hopeful of returning to the Valencia XI for their last-16 Europa League second leg with Ludogorets Razgrad on Thursday evening.

The 22-year-old, who is currently on loan at Valencia from Chelsea, recently returned to first-team training following knee surgery.

"It's a huge joy to be back. I'm working hard to get back into the team as soon as I can. Hopefully I can do that on Thursday, but if not, whenever the manager thinks is best," he told reporters.

As it stands, Romeu is due to return to his parent club at the end of the season, but has been linked with a permanent move to the Mestalla.

Valencia currently lead 3-0 from the first leg of their meeting with Bulgarian side Ludogorets.

Written by
Matt Law