Valencia captain David Albelda has said that the decision to name Mauricio Pellegrino as the club's next manager is "a phenomenal choice".

Albelda, who starred alongside Pellegrino at the Mestalla between 1999 and 2005, insists that his former teammate knows the club "inside out" and understands the club's objectives going forward.

"For me it is a phenomenal choice," he said. "Mauricio knows the club inside out and knows the demands that Valencia have.

"He knows what our objectives are and that we should be in the Champions League at a minimum – after that getting as far as we can in the other competitions.

"Just because he was a defender doesn't mean that the team are going to be ultra defensive. He has some fantastic building blocks with which to make a good team and achieve good results."

Pellegrino served under Rafael Benitez at both Liverpool and Inter Milan.