After being dismissed by his last club, Levante, veteran striker Roberto Soldado has declared his retirement from the game.
Soldado began his career with Real Madrid and went on to play for Osasuna, Getafe, Valencia, Villarreal, and Granada, with his most successful tenure at Los Che. This resulted in a €30 million move to Tottenham Hotspur, where he struggled before returning to Spain.
Soldado will also spend two years with Fenerbahce in Turkey. He got 12 appearances for Spain and scored 7 goals despite never appearing in a major tournament.
He posted a statement on Instagram.
“I have something to tell you: today I ended a 21-year career and, with it, a dream that I never imagined would come true, let alone last so long.” Thank you to everyone who has supported me along the way, including teammates, friends, family, coaches, and fans. Goodbye.”
Soldado appeared in 610 games, scoring 224 goals and assisting on 74 others. During his stint with Valencia, he scored 82 goals and provided 15 assists in 141 games, propelling the club to Champions League qualifying.
In his latter years, he was a major member of the Granada team that advanced to the Europa League quarter-finals, defeating Napoli along the way. Last season, he scored 5 goals in 31 appearances for Levante, mainly coming off the bench.
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