Roberto Soldado never managed to live up to his price tag as part of Tottenham Hotspur’s infamous ‘Magnificent Seven’, and is now making headlines for mixed reasons at Levante.
Spurs signed the Spaniard from Valencia for what was a club-record £26m in August 2013. He arrived in north London as part of the package Andre Villas-Boas hoped would replace Gareth Bale, ahead of selling the Welshman to Real Madrid for a then world-record £85m.
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But Soldado only lasted two years in the Premier League before joining Villarreal for £7m. He later enjoyed spells at Fenerbahce and Granada before moving to Levante last summer for £420k. Yet he took until January 8 and a 2-0 win over Mallorca for his first La Liga goal.
Soldado severely struggled with Spurs as the Spaniard lacked the pace, fine technique and raw physicality for the Premier League. He scored just 16 goals and created 11 in 76 games in all competitions with Tottenham, including hauls of seven and six in 52 top-flight games.
What happened to ex-Tottenham star Roberto Soldado
Soldado’s return to his homeland at Villarreal failed to see the 12-cap striker shake off his struggles with just 12 goals and 19 assists in 55 outings. Life in Turkey was not much better with 19 goals and 11 assists in 59 games at Fenerbahce, while starting just 35 of his games.
He eventually found some momentum with Granada and struck 16 times over 61 La Liga outings. Those strikes saw Levante swoop, but Soldado took 11 top-flight games to open his account. He also hit three against Huracan Melilla and Alcoyano in the Copa del Rey.
Levante’s 2-0 win over Mallorca on January 8 is just one of Soldado’s last seven La Liga appearances, though. Referee Pablo Gonzalez Fuertes showed the former Tottenham man two yellow cards in a 3-4 loss to Valencia on December 20 for incidents in stoppage-time.
He earned his first caution for dissent in the 90th-minute and Gonzalez Fuertes issued his marching orders five minutes later for Soldado’s role in a mass confrontation. The forward returned two games later to score against Mallorca, but has only featured five times since.
Yet in those five games, the 36-year-old has scored twice more and also seen another red card. Santiago Jaime Latre brandished a straight red for Soldado in the 74th-minute of the Granotes’ 2-4 loss to Real Betis on February 13 for a knee-high lunge on William Carvalho.
Soldado would only feature for 15 minutes over Levante’s following eight top-flight games before starting against Granada on April 17. He had offered an assist from the bench away to Osasuna last month, and marked his return to the line-up by scoring away to Granada.
It took to the 94th-minute, but Soldado rounded out a 4-1 win at the Nuevo Los Carmenes with a left-footed finish. And his goal kept the attacker in Alessio Lisci’s plans for Thursday night’s visit of once-title-contending Sevilla. But he could not help Levante avoid a defeat.
Soldado did score against Sevilla, though, with the former Tottenham man giving Levante hope of a late comeback. He met Jose Luis Morales’ pass to make the score 2-3 with three minutes of regular time remaining. But the strike ultimately proved to be too little, too late.
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