Canobbio was acquired by Rafael Benítez's Valencia in late July 2003,[1] where he featured mainly as a substitute;[2] the manager had not asked for the player to be signed, and famously commented that he had been waiting for a sofa and had been brought a lamp instead.
[3] Having scored just once throughout the season, in a 2–2 home draw with Celta de Vigo, he nonetheless managed to make ten appearances in the team's 2004 UEFA Cup conquest, netting once in the 3–2 win against Beşiktaş.
[4] For 2004–05, Canobbio joined recently relegated Celta on loan, with the Galician club having the option to buy at the end of the season, which was activated as he finished as the team's joint-top scorer at 12 (with Jandro) and a La Liga promotion befell.
[5] After three additional campaigns as an important attacking player, scoring seven goals in 2007–08 as Celta failed to return to the top flight, Canobbio was released in July 2008, subsequently joining Real Valladolid.
Having retired in 2015, he became Progreso's chairman two years later;[9] under his tenure, the club returned to the top tier in the 2018 season, qualifying for the Copa Libertadores in 2020 and putting an end to a 30-year absence in the competition.