Striker Fernando Morientes has left Liverpool and joined Valencia for an undisclosed fee.

He endured a difficult time in the Premiership, failing to live up to his reputation during 16 months on Merseyside.

A club statement read: "Everybody at Liverpool would like to wish 'Nando' all the best with his new club in Spain."

Morientes joined Liverpool in January 2005 for £6.3 million from Real Madrid but struggled to adapt to the Premiership.

The move, for a fee believed to be less than £3 million, comes just two days after Morientes' agent said the player would not be returning to Spain this summer.

Liverpool were linked with a swap deal with Valencia's Marco Di Vaio, until the Italian forward snubbed talk of him moving to the Premiership

Morientes scored just 12 goals in 61 games for Liverpool.