Villarreal have announced the departure of forward Gerard Moreno to Espanyol. In his place will come two new forwards, Cedric Bakambu from Bursaspor and Roberto Soldado from Tottenham.
Moreno returns to Catalonia where he began his career in the Espanyol youth set up. The official Espanyol website stated: “RCD Espanyol and Villarreal have reached a preliminary agreement over the signing of Gerard Moreno with Espanyol purchasing 50% of his economic rights. The overall confirmation of the agreement for the Catalan forward, who will become Espanyol’s fifth signing this summer, is subject to passing his medical examination and, with it, the signing of the contract. The player will sign for five seasons upon passing his medical examination scheduled for Friday morning.”
Moreno took to Twitter to thank his fans for their support throughout his five years with the Yellow Submarine.
GRACIAS👍🏻😃 pic.twitter.com/jgvfkX02uA
— Gerard Moreno (@GerardMoreno9) August 13, 2015
The move is reportedly worth €1.5 million, and it paves the way for Villarreal to sign two new forwards, Bakambu and Soldado
Bakambu has not been confirmed as yet, but would sign a permanent contract from Turkish club Bursaspor in a deal reported to be worth €7 million. The 24-year-old Congolese international forward spent the 2014-15 season at the Bursa Ataturk Stadium appearing 28 times in all competitions. His tally of 20 goals represents his best return in a season and will be looking to improve on this in Spain.
Prior to joining Bursaspor, Bakambu had spent his senior career in the French Ligue 1 with Sochaux. He made 90 league appearances over four seasons, scoring 18 goals.
Bakambu is a former French youth international, representing the U18, U19, and U20 teams before electing to represent the Democratic Republic of Congo at senior level. He received his first, and so far only, cap in a friendly against Madagascar on 14 June 2015.
As stated, the deal with Villarreal has not officially been announced but the player has been re-tweeting good bye and good luck tweets on his official account for the past two days.
Villarreal has released official confirmation of the Soldado transfer, with a fee of £10 million being paid to the North London club. Tottenham coach Mauricio Pochettino confirmed that the striker had been allowed to go. “It is true that the club gave permission for Roberto to go to Spain,” Pochettino said.
Soldado has been chased by Villarreal all summer and will be their marquee signing. The Spanish international will return to La Liga after two poor seasons in the English Premier League.
Having made 51 league appearances for the North London club, Soldado has only managed seven goals, with three coming from the penalty spot. Villarreal will be hoping he can rediscover the scoring touch he showed at Valencia, where he scored 81 goals in 141 games in all competitions.
See More: The Positives and Negatives of Roberto Soldado’s Possible Move to Villarreal
Having this pedigree of forward will do nothing but improve the Yellow Submarine. Moreno was coming off a steady 2014-15 season where he scored 7 goals in 26 games, and although preseason form showed he was capable of scoring more the blow of his loss will be softened by the two new arrivals.
The biggest question will be how quickly the two new forwards settle into life at El Madrigal. Having both missed the preseason it would be a surprise to see either star in the first few rounds of the new La Liga season. Moreno was building an understanding with other new signings Leo Baptistao and Samu Castillejo, but with him now plying his trade in Catalonia a lot will be expected of the new forwards.
If Bakambu can continue his good form, and Soldado can rediscover his, these could prove to be inspired signings by Marcelino Garcia Toral. If neither of those things happens, fans of the Yellow Submarine will be down on the decision to sell Moreno.
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