Club Born in
Lisbon, Valente began his career at
second division club
Portimonense on loan from
Sporting CP. However, he found first-team chances limited at the former side and despite success in helping win the
Portuguese Cup in 1995, he was loaned again in the
1996–97 season to
Marítimo, also in the
Primeira Liga. Valente signed with
União Leiria in the summer of 1999, where he spent three years as an undisputed starter. In 2002, former Leiria's manager
José Mourinho recognized Valente's talent and picked him, alongside teammate
Derlei, as his first signings for
Porto. The former repaid the coach's faith with some good displays as Porto romped to victory in the national championship and defeated
Celtic 3–2 in the
UEFA Cup.
The following campaign, Valente helped his club to Portuguese and
Champions League wins, with the defender appearing in 11 games during
the latter competition's run, ten of those complete. At the season's closure, he renewed his contract until 2007. After Mourinho signed for
Chelsea, Valente picked up a succession of injuries. He only played eight matches in the entire
domestic league, but returned in time to face
Inter Milan in the
Champions League round of 16, not being able to prevent his team losing 2–4 on aggregate. After another poor year, which included an ultimatum by Porto president
Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa that ordered him to choose between club or national team, eventually leading to a suspension, on 28 August 2005 Valente moved to
Everton on a three-year deal worth €2.2 million, under recommendation of mentor Mourinho, after the English had lost regular left-back
Alessandro Pistone to injury. He took a while to adapt to the hectic pace of the
Premier League, but became a regular from then on – in
2005–06 and
2006–07 he was considered first-choice, but faced stiff competition from
Gary Naysmith; in February 2007, the
Merseyside club took the option of a one-year extension to his contract, tying him until June of the following year. In early May 2008, Valente signed another one-year link, but he eventually fell down the pecking order at the Toffees, usually backing
Leighton Baines. Furthermore, with
centre back Joleon Lescott also being able to play the position and with Valente also suffering from injury problems, he received little playing time during
2008–09, being released on 12 June 2009 and choosing to retire from playing after appearing in 60 competitive games in four seasons.
International A full
Portugal international since after the
2002 FIFA World Cup, Valente was first-choice for the national side during the runner-up campaign at
UEFA Euro 2004, played in home soil. During 2005 he suffered a
thigh strain, but recovered in time to play in the
2006 World Cup, again playing a key part in their eventual fourth-place finish; in the quarter-final match against
England he appeared to handball a
David Beckham cross, but
Horacio Elizondo did not award a
penalty and his team eventually advanced after a
shootout. After playing only once during the
Euro 2008 qualifiers, Valente retired from international football in September 2008. ==Coaching career==