Valencia goalkeeper Alves denies move to Roma

Rio de Janeiro, June 28: Valencia goalkeeper Diego Alves has played down rumours of a possible move to Italian top division football club AS Roma this summer.

The Italian Serie A giants have reportedly targeted the Brazilian after their on-loan stopper Wojciech Szczesny returned to Arsenal, reports Xinhua news agency.

"I am contracted with Valencia until 2019 and I will return to training [next month] despite what people are saying," Alves told ESPN Brasil.

The 32-year-old has made 146 appearances for the Spanish club since his 2011 move from Almeria.

In 2016, he became the goalkeeper with the most penalty saves in Spain's top flight, breaking Andoni Zubizarreta's previous record of 16.

Alves said his immediate priority was to become Brazil's first-choice goalkeeper ahead of next year's World Cup in Russia.

"Every player wants to be a part of the World Cup and now there is a short period of time to be noticed before the tournament," he said.