Victor Valdes disappears from social media Barcelona His way of saying goodbye to football

In a bid to remain private and bid farewell to football, former Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes has deleted his social media accounts upon his retirement.

He has deleted all of his Instagram photos and his Twitter account after opting to hang up his gloves.

On Monday, January 1, he tweeted a photo of a road accompanied by the caption 'thanks for everything' but all of his messages have now been deleted.

Such an abrupt exit from the world of football and social media was something that he had previously hinted at in a 2015 interview.

"When the light goes out someday, then it will go out and I'll be with my children, teaching them about life," he told RAC1.

"But I hope that when the light does go out, it will be hard to find me."

Since August, various media reports have hinted that he was close to retirement, having last represented Middlesbrough in 2016/17 and beginning the current campaign without a club.

Before that, he enjoyed a very successful career with Barcelona and is one of the best goalkeepers ever to play for the Camp Nou club.

In 2014, he left after persistent knee problems and joined Manchester United the following year but struggled at Old Trafford due to his relationship with coach Louis van Gaal.

Now, he has indeed turned out the light and is definitively stepping away from the footballing world.