Roberto Soldado to Villarreal: Latest Transfer Details, Reaction and More
Roberto Soldado’s Tottenham Hotspur nightmare has finally come to an end, as the Spanish international completed his transfer to Villarreal on Friday, per the club.
In his first two full seasons with Spurs, Soldado was able to muster only seven Premier League goals, having scored 24 in La Liga for Valencia in 2012/13, per WhoScored.com.
A transfer could potentially reinvigorate a player who was once rated as one of the very best strikers in European football. As we can see here, during his time at the Mestalla, Soldado hammered in the goals for fun:
In the Premier League, things didn't work out for the striker. None of Andre Villas-Boas, Tim Sherwood or current manager Mauricio Pochettino found a system to get the best out of the player, meaning he gradually fell down the pecking order at the north London club.
Given he signed with Spurs for a whopping £26 million, he naturally became a figure of ridicule in the eyes of many supporters. He’ll be desperate to show that’s not the case at Villarreal.
La Liga is more suited to the Spaniard’s abilities, anyway. The league is more technical and less physical than the Premier League, a trait that Soldado regularly seemed to struggle with in Tottenham colours. In addition, he’ll know from previous experience that he’s capable of scoring goals in his homeland.
Villarreal are a team that will play to his strengths, too. Manager Marcelino’s side operate with width and offensive endeavour, and they are packed with incisive midfield players. Given they lost star centre-forward Luciano Vietto to Atletico Madrid this summer, Soldado is likely to be the man who leads their attack.
Encouragingly for Soldado, although great goalscorers can go through both good and bad times, the majority preserve an inherent golden touch regardless of the circumstances they find themselves in.
Whether it stills burns brightly after two arduous years remains to be seen. But he has a wonderful chance to rekindle those clinical embers and expedite his renaissance from a figure of derision back to one of Europe’s most clinical frontmen.
