Why Villarreal remain strong favourites for Soldado signature

Plenty of stories in the press and therefore website of course suggesting Sevilla are very close to signing Roberto Soldado so I will buck the trend and suggest that is not the case, he is much more likely to join Villarreal.



Villarreal are prepared to wait until later in the window when they see the price reducing. While Mauricio Pochettino would be happy to keep Soldado the Spaniard prefers a move back to Spain. There has been interest from Turkey, Italy and most recently Borussia Dortmund in Germany, but with confidence in front of goal at a low ebb returning to a league he knows would be the best way to find his scoring boots again, which there is no doubt he will.

Real Sociedad have also made a move but their offer is also likely to be rebuffed as being too low at this stage. There are factors in Villarreal's favour which make them confident they will get their man. The Villarreal president Fernando Roig Alfonso is good friends with Alberto Toldra, who is Soldado's agent. They are both in London today and watched the Emirates Cup game between Villarreal and Wolfsburg which Villarreal won 2-1.

Toldra Consulting are based in Valencia, Soldado was born in Valencia and Villarreal is just up the Mediterranean coast only 64km (39 miles) away by road so he would be near his home town. Sevilla is 542km (337 miles) away by air, 656km (408 miles) by road towards the bottom left of Spain. Real Sociedad is in the northern right-hand corner of the country, 447kn (278 miles) away by air, 569km (354 miles) by road.

Villarreal have sold highly-rated 21-year-old Brazilian striker Luciano Vietto to Atlético Madrid this window for £14 million (US$21.71m - AUS$29.81m - €19.79m) so can afford his transfer fee and need another striker. Spurs are said to be asking for £12 million (US$18.61m - AUS$25.55m - €16.97m) for the Spaniard.

Sevilla director of football, Ramón Rodríguez Verdejo, commonly known as Monchi, has publicly stated that there is no rush to sign Soldado, Sevilla want the price lowered. Villarreal believe that Soldado prefers a move to them and with the president and his agent being friends they ought to know the situation.

While Real Sociedad under David Moyes are seriously in him they can't afford his wages, they have a wage structure so he would need to take a considerable cut.  That is not beyond the bounds of possibility as there were reports after his first year that he asked Toldra to get him a move away and that he would take a pay cut to achieve it. That didn't happen but he knows only perhaps the top five clubs can afford his Spurs wages.

Villarreal were 6th last season and Real Sociedad were 12th, Sevilla finished 5th, Valencia 4th. David Moyes will certainly face an uphill struggle so his choice looks to rest between Sevilla who can offer UEFA Champions League football or Villarreal who can offer UEFA Europa League football.

His priority right now is scoring goals again and setting up a home for his young family, pictured below on a flight at the beginning of the year. Villarreal to me clearly look favourites for his signature.


Further Tottenham Reading
Spurs need to solve their motivation problem
Pochettino and VDV embrace Ken Dodd


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