Villarreal fans will be mourning the departure of a club legend, after the Yellow Submarine announced that Mario Gaspar was leaving the club on a free transfer.
The 31-year-old made 424 appearances with Villarreal after making his debut at the age of 18, seeing them through some tricky times after relegation to Segunda. Two seasons ago he captained them to their first major trophy, as Villarreal beat Manchester United on penalties in the Europa League final.
Although Gaspar struggled to hit the heights in recent seasons, he was at one point one of the finer right-backs in La Liga. That earned him 3 caps with the Spain side, where he scored twice.
¡Las primeras palabras de Kiko Femenía como jugador del #Villarreal 🗣! pic.twitter.com/gyguSqQoyJ
— Villarreal CF (@VillarrealCF) July 28, 2022
Just a matter of hours later, Villarreal unveiled his replacement. Former Real Madrid and Barcelona academy player Kiko Femenia has joined the Yellow Submarine from Watford. Although they did not reveal a fee, his transfer is believed to be around €1m.