Roberto Soldado · Biography

Roberto Soldado Rillo made his top-flight debut for Real Madrid on 23 October 2005. The opponents were Valencia, his hometown club, and he played 18 minutes of a 2-1 defeat at the Santiago Bernabéu. Born in Valencia on 27 May 1985, he was a centre-forward for almost two decades in Spain, England and Turkey before retiring in 2023.

Real Madrid academy

He started at CD Don Bosco in Valencia and joined Real Madrid’s academy in 2000. With Spain’s under-19 side he won the 2004 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. With Real Madrid’s reserve team he won the Zarra Trophy for the Spanish second division in 2005-06, the same season he first played for the senior side. He made 27 official first-team appearances for Real Madrid and scored four goals. He was also part of the squad that won La Liga in 2007-08, playing five league games that season.

Osasuna and Getafe

Real Madrid loaned him to Osasuna for the 2006-07 season. In Pamplona he scored 11 goals in 30 league games, 13 in all competitions, and finished as the team’s top scorer. In July 2008 he joined Getafe. In his first season he scored 13 goals in 34 league games, including a hat-trick in a 5-1 win over Sporting Gijón on 25 January 2009. He scored 16 times in 26 league games in 2009-10, and by December 2009 he was already Getafe’s all-time top scorer in the Spanish top flight.

Valencia CF

Valencia announced his signing on 9 June 2010 for €10 million. Over three seasons at Mestalla he scored 18, 17 and 24 league goals: 59 in 101 league games and 81 in 141 matches in all competitions. In November 2011 he scored twice against Real Madrid in a 3-2 home defeat. On 23 October 2012 he scored a Champions League hat-trick in a 3-0 win over BATE Borisov. He shared the Zarra Trophy for La Liga for 2011-12 with Fernando Llorente.

Tottenham Hotspur

Tottenham agreed his signing on 1 August 2013 for £26 million, a club-record fee at the time. He made his Premier League debut on 18 August 2013 and scored the penalty that gave Spurs a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace. In the 2013-14 Europa League he scored twice in a 5-0 win away to Dinamo Tbilisi and scored a hat-trick in a 4-1 win over Anzhi Makhachkala in December 2013. He scored six Premier League goals in 2013-14 and one in 2014-15, the season Tottenham finished runners-up in the League Cup. He left London with 14 goals in 71 games.

Villarreal and Fenerbahçe

In August 2015 he signed a three-year deal with Villarreal. On 13 December 2015 he scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Real Madrid. He tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in pre-season in 2016 and missed most of 2016-17. He scored 9 goals in 38 league games for Villarreal. Fenerbahçe announced his arrival on 11 August 2017. In Istanbul he came off the bench to score a hat-trick in a 4-1 win over Sivasspor on 19 November 2017. He finished with 15 goals in 47 Turkish Süper Lig games and 19 in 59 in all competitions.

Granada and Levante

He joined Granada, newly promoted to La Liga, on 15 July 2019. He scored on his debut in a 4-4 draw with Villarreal on 17 August 2019 and ended the season with seven league goals as the team qualified for the Europa League. On 17 September 2020 he scored Granada’s first goal in European competition, in a 4-0 win away to Albania’s Teuta. He then scored in both legs of the 3-2 aggregate win over Molde that took the team to the quarter-finals. He scored 25 goals in 82 games for Granada. On 28 June 2021 he signed a two-year deal with Levante and scored 11 goals in 51 games for the club. He spent the second of those seasons in the Spanish second division, which ended with defeat to Alavés in the 2023 promotion play-offs.

Spain national team

He made his senior debut for Spain on 2 June 2007 in Riga, in a 2-0 win over Latvia in Euro 2008 qualifying, and played against Liechtenstein in the same window. He returned to the side on 29 February 2012 and scored twice in a 5-0 friendly win over Venezuela. On 16 June 2013 in Recife he scored in a 2-1 win over Uruguay in Spain’s opening game of the Confederations Cup, where they finished runners-up. Between 2007 and 2013 he won 12 caps and scored 7 goals for Spain.

Honours

He won La Liga in 2007-08 with Real Madrid and the 2004 European Under-19 Championship with Spain. He was a runner-up at the 2013 Confederations Cup with Spain and in the 2015 League Cup with Tottenham. He won the Zarra Trophy in the second division in 2006 and in La Liga in 2012. He announced his retirement on 3 August 2023.