Villarreal President Fernando Roig has asked fans to get behind the Yellow Submarine following a tricky start to the season, and explained some of their transfer policy in recent years.
This summer Villarreal made a significant profit in the transfer market, selling the likes of Pau Torres, Nico Jackson and Samu Chukwueze for over €100m, and many fans were confused why more of the money was not invested back into the squad.
“Villarreal has not earned €100m, Villarreal has sold for a differential between what it has bought and what it has sold in these years of €69m, and that is the reality. Everything that we cannot balance out is what we compensate for with these type of operations. As I said, we risk to be at the top, normally we achieve balance, but when that is not the case, we also have to sell and level things up.”
That €69m appears to be profit over the past three years in the transfer market, based on Transfermarkt figures, and suggests that Villarreal have covered some of their operational costs with the sales in the transfer market.
After sacking manager Quique Setien, things have not improved much under Pacheta. Roig told Diario AS that the fans needed to get behind the team, rather than booing and whistling, as has been the case in recent years.
“I ask our people to be with the team now, because if there are nerves and tension everything is more difficult. Our first objective is to always be in the first division, but to achieve it every year we must always be united and even more so when things can be complicated. We are in the most complicated situation because several things add up, we have made decisions, mistakes have been made, things have happened that have complicated things for us, but now we must be united to continue growing.”
Villarreal have won just twice in their opening nine games, and sit just two points above the drop, when many expected them to be challenging for the European places. That could still end up being the case, but Pacheta will be hoping things click after this international break.
“No I’m not. What does sometimes make me angry is that we don’t realise that if we are not all pulling in the same direction, this won’t work out. You have to be proud seeing what Villarreal has achieved in these years as a club, since in addition to the sporting successes that I think everyone knows, we have a super stadium, two sports cities, facilities in the city that improve the life of its inhabitants. And, all of that, has come from Villarreal.”
Image via Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images
