Albion’s Borja Valero joins Villarreal

Monday 19th July 2010, 4:00PM BST.

Albion’s Borja Valero joins Villarreal

Albion’s club-record signing Borja Valero’s time at the Hawthorns could be over after a season-long loan move to Spanish club Villarreal with a view to a permanent deal.

It has been confirmed this afternoon that the Spanish midfielder will be back in his homeland for 2010/11, with his future again set to be reviewed next summer.

Valero had only just returned to join the Baggies for pre-season training after spending last season on loan, again in Spain, at his former club Mallorca, who sold him to Albion for £4.7million in the summer of 2008.

But the 25-year-old failed to settle in his first season at Albion, when the club were relegated from the Premier League, with Valero only making two appearances in the Championship promotion campaign taking his total to 36.

However, his performances over the last year made him a wanted man again, with Sevilla also having a bid rejected last month.

But talks between Albion and Villarreal have been taking place for a number of weeks, with a deal now struck to keep Valero away from the Hawthorns.

Albion’s sporting and technical director Dan Ashworth said: “After relegation in 2009 we agreed to loan Borja to Real Mallorca.

“On the back of an outstanding season in Spain and taking into account his professional and personal wishes, we decided to accept an offer from Villarreal.

“I’d like to thank Borja for his contribution and his professional attitude throughout the last two years.

“We wish him well over the coming season.”


  1. 1
    rich5wolves

    Season long loan……….. hmmmm oh dear. You need to start spending!

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  2. 2
    Col. Custard

    I understand this is another Jeremy Peace special; Same sort of deal as he did for Kuzscak, Robinson, Greening etc. i.e. the sale after a year is a binding contract, so we’ve effectively sold him. Wonder how much of the £4.7 mill we paid the bald one has screwed out of them? (and if the extra money available has been used to boost Dorran’s wages?)

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  3. 3
    albionmatt

    what a rubbish deal for us again.i nsuppose any loan fee we be already accounted for by jp :(

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  4. 4
    Donna

    What a waste of time effort and money he’s been. Happy with Dorrans signing a new contract. Other than that I think we’ll really struggle in the premiership with current squad it needs improving and am glad i’m only sharing aseason ticket as couldn’t cope with another relegation battle.

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  5. 5
    Cyril Randle

    Sounds like another ‘have him a year but you’ve got to buy him’ deal as in Greening et al. So, as Shakespeare said, “All’s well that ends well”. I know last Summer and Winter here were unbelievably bad, but when you think what our soldiers put up with, these blokes who kick a bag of wind for a living really are pampered. We viewed National Service as a two year punishment for a crime we hadn’t committed, but we had to get on with it. It’s like getting old, you get on with it. The alternative ain’t any fun at all!
    (and there’s no Baggies on a Saturday).

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  6. 6
    baggieinmanc

    I hope this is another loan to buy deal like Robinson and Greening. If not, who are we going to get in seeming as we were waiting on the money from the Valero deal to fund any other activity?
    Somewhere down the line the truth has been doctored. I hope either this is a done deal and we can look forward to a couple of signings before kick off or that claims we had no disposable income were way off the mark.
    I have absolute faith that JP will keep our club trading, but I would prefer to stay afloat in the Premier League for a good few seasons.
    Beattie, Lonergan, McArthur and Roque Santa Cruz once the new rules kick in. Man City will have to off load a batch of top quality players at the last minute to make thier squad fit regulations.
    Boing Boing.

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  7. 7
    andytrojan

    Here is a translation of what was on the official Villarreal CF website today –
    “Villarreal CF and the English West Bromwich Albion have today successfully completed initiated negotiations last week by the midfield Borja Valero, which is officially the underwater player. The Madrid will be presented tomorrow Tuesday at El Madrigal from 08.00 hours at an event open to all yellow fans wishing you are invited. ”

    No wonder he didn’t want to play at England’s highest ground

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  8. 8
    JACK the HAT.

    (1)
    Oh dear, you don’t know what your on about.
    Wolves have spent £18m and what have they got for it, not a lot.
    (3,4)
    What a dismal pair. Don’t invite me to your parties.
    (5)
    Cyril,
    It’s there career choice. we all have to work. I admire anyone who works for a living whatever their job.
    (6)
    like the tail end of your post. The wolves have spnt their kitty.

    Well done JEREMY PEACE another deal sorted.

    ~~~~BOING~~~~BOING~~~~JtH.

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  9. 9
    Worried Baggie

    8. According to many sources we have NO disposable income. Hence the reason we have spent 800k on Tamas. Pablo has never played at this level and hasnt played regularly in 18 months, Blackburn wanted Reid out and with Cox, Bednar, Miller and Moore as our strikers we are in serious trouble. We have two full backs in Zuiv and Cech that cannot tackle and Mattock struggled in the championship.

    JP do not disrespect the fans any further, spend the money required to give us a fighting chance. We have put our money up for season tickets, do the decent thing and give this club a chance.

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  10. 10
    Worried Baggie

    Looking at the squads of our rivals I think we are better equipt than Blackpool and with major changes to them possibly Westham if they do not gel. Is anybody else not concerned about the lack of quality in our squad on these boards? I have discussed this issue with many Albion fans and we all tend to have the same concerns from the Goalkeeper, Full backs, a leader at centre half, 3 new strikers.

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  11. 11
    astleistheking

    Please look at the bigger picture everyone. The guy is in sizzling form over there and will only get better so we will no doubt recoup more than what we paid for him. Look at the Greening deal if I would have known Fulham were to pay us £5.5m for him I would have felt guilty. There is obviously a price agreement based on performances etc….
    Curtis davies, Kuzcack all netted us good money.
    As it stands we don’t really need money as we have made an operating profit plus various sponsership deals give us money to spend wisely.

    Well done JP.

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  12. 12
    The Real Bully Hoo.

    4 Donna.
    Thank you, thank you, thank you.
    Your post encadsulates everything that’s wrong with the moaning anti Jeremy Peace faction.

    ‘I’m glad I’m only sharing a season ticket as I couldn’t face another relegation battle.’

    On the face of it I see your point. By Easter in our PL seasons I start getting depressed at the steady flow of 1-0 defeats.

    But couldn’t face it? I would guess you weren’t a supporter in the early nineties let alone the seventies.

    Some of our fans have started to become like the pampered glory hunters of the PL. Man Ure fans that find it a bit of a bore, having to go and watch them win the League Cup. It’s a bit below them.

    Yes we’ve had a lot of relegations in the last ten years but we’ve also had automatic promotions to the biggest league in the World. Something we could only dream of when we were struggling to beat Port Vale in the play off final from the old third division.

    I know someone will come on and say ‘but I want to see my beloved Albion as an established PL club.’ Do you think the rest of us don’t? I’d like a romantic weekend with Kelly Brook but unless I become a multi-millionaire, undego extensive plastic surgery and a personality transplant, it ain’t gonna happen. But it don’t stop me dreaming.

    For me this season will be no different to any of the last forty nine I’ve been going. I’ll go to the first game hoping for a fantastic season. By Christmas that hope may have been knocked out of me but I’ll be back next year with the same hope, that’s what proper football is all about. If you want something different IE winning things go to Old Trafford, mid-table security Villa Park. But if you’re a Baggie that means your in it for the long haul.

    Donna I’m sorry if it seems as if I’m making a personal attack on you, I’m not. It’s just that a lot of our fans have forgotten where we were ten years ago let alone twenty years ago. Without a billionaire, ‘slow and steady’ is the only way we can improve.

    Read post 6 Baggie in Manc. He makes some excellent points about how the new rules are going to throw up some interesting players at the last minute and if we fill our squad now we won’t be in a position to take advantage.

    Keep the faith, get behind the lads that wear the shirt.
    Remember WE ARE ALBION.

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  13. 13
    The Real Bully Hoo.

    Different subject but I heard on Talksport this morning that West Ham offered Joe Cole more in wages than Liverpool. He’s allegedly on £90,000 a week at Liverpool.

    I know these are ‘media figures, but no doubt they bare some semblance of fact.

    My question is :-
    When the Piranha brothers took over at West Ham they claimed the club was £100 mill in debt.
    They then said that it was probably worse than that.
    They seem to be buying players as if it’s going out of fashion.
    Joe Cole is 28 and would have had no real resale value.
    So where is the money coming from?

    I don’t blame West Ham or the Piranhas. As it stands they’re breaking no rules.

    But what is the PL doing? Did I dream what happened at Portsmouth?

    I know West Ham will say ‘it won’t happen to us.’ When people were questioning Portsmouth’s spending, they said the same thing.

    ‘Fiddling while Rome burns’ comes to mind for the PL. It seems we’re relying on Platini to give our game a wake up call.

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  14. 14
    Happy_baggie

    TRBH – I was thinking the very same thing. The chav kings said that all their squad other than Parker was for sale – yet they have sold no-one.

    That club is crumbling from the inside and if i was a West ham Fan i would be very worried about my club… that said, being in London they will always be bailed out by another foreign squillionaire if needed.

    9 & 10 – “worried” baggie….. It seems to me you have used our boards as therapy for your true worries about wolves and the jumble sale panic buys mad mick has made.

    I think we are 2/3 players away from the 25 that will give us a cracking season – one more striker, a FB and a back-up keeper.

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  15. 15
    paulwbafc

    Anyone would think the transfer deadline is tommorow. I am sure there are deals in the pipeline. Don’t panic. Also we don’t want our club to go the way of pompey splashing the cash like no tommorow, ok wolves have spent 18m. So what. They always spend more money than albion and over the last 20 years of Wolves outspending Albion which team has been most successful. Yes Wolves will spend more than us but when the ding dong derby comes round I am sure Albion will give Wolves a game. We rubbed there noses in it so many times over the last 20 years. Can’t wait to see it again. Albion fans keep the faith. The side needs improving at we will get the players. Wolves will fall flat on there backside because they often do.

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  16. 16
    Cyril Randle

    RBH. 2 good reads mate. Donna, if you aren’t too big, you can sit on my lap at every match, especially when we play Blackpool!
    Worried Baggie. One simple question: Would you have bought your season ticket KNOWING that we would be relegated? I would, RBH would, Happy would, Sir Terence and Worcester would, Bomber and Hilltop would, many, many others would. It’s an adventure mate, with NO guarantees. Enjoy it whatever happens.

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  17. 17
    wbabomber

    First of all the Valero deal is a definate sale after 12 months. Undisclosed figure but if we are to beleive so called inside sources at Villareal it is apprx £5million. JP like these deals as it acts as a kind of insurance policy in terms of funding for wages IF we were to be relegated. Me i see it as another sensible prudent plan by our chairman that we do not have to sell players if the worst was to happen.

    Next, why dont people wait to see what happens by the end of August before slating JP?
    If we have not acquired the players needed by then i will be only to willing to point out how we have failed to provide RDM with the necessary tools, until then i wont.
    JP has been busy negotiating the Valero and Dorrans deals, he can now pursue our managers targets with more vigour.
    However, the new squad limitations means deals will be completed later than ever so sit tight and wait for the rush. As someone said to me the other day, its going to be like the NEXT sale!!!

    TRBH

    As ever sensible words from someone who has seen it all before.
    Dont get me wrong i want to see us sort it all out like everyone else, but when you are negotiating deals that could cost our club upto £5million pound each in wages i can appreciate the need for a cool prudent head, that head is on Jeremy Peace`s shoulders.

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  18. 18
    The Real Bully Hoo.

    16 Cyril.
    Regarding Blackpool. That’s avery old joke. But very funny.

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  19. 19
    Neutral Wolf

    14. Panic buys? You mean quality young players who have all played in the Premier League, two of which turned down Albion to join Wolves? You may call the ‘panic buys’ but obviously Hunt and Van Damme were more than panic buys to Di Matteo. What do you class as a good season? Survival on the last day? 19th place and one better than last time? With your current squad I cannot see it being above 19th but I hope the signings that desperately need are not far away as you have many players who have already not made it at that level (Barnes, Morrison, Thomas, Olsson, Carson, Zuiverloon, etc)

    I sincerely hope the Albion can stay up and the Derby gaems will be close as league position means nothing in these games.

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  20. 20
    The Real Bully Hoo.

    19 Neutral Wolf.
    I don’t blame you for defending your team but your grasp of facts is tenuous if you are to live up to your name.

    1) Hunt is 28. Hardly young for a winger.

    2) ‘Both players turned Albion down to join Wolves.’ I heard that we had looked at both and put in an offer for neither. I know it’s a fact in Hunt’s case, as their Manager said as much live on SkySport. With Jelly I don’t know for sure but then neither do you.

    3) Your list of players that ‘haven’t made it at that level.’
    Barnes. Hardly fair on a player who has been out with a series of serious injuries since playing a couple of games (similar record to your star winger Kightly.)
    Morrison. Did weell in the PL until missing end of season with serious injury.
    Thomas. Had a good season with Pompey finishing higher than Wolves did last season so does that mean all your players are unproven at this level?
    Olsson. Had a good seasonin PL. Coveted by other clubs etc etc.

    As for your last para. You’d better hope so.

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  21. 21
    The Real Bully Hoo.

    One other thing. Villareal are saying they’ve paid just over £5 mill for Borja Valero. As I believe that Mallorca paid £1 mill for the season they had him on loan, we’ve actually made £1.5 mill profit on him. I’d rather have had him as a player but not the loss a lot said we’d make.

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  22. 22
    Cyril Randle

    RBH18. The old ones are always the funniest because everyone knows where to laugh. Anyway, who says I’m joking? Donna is a beautiful name for starters and nephew Mick would squash up a bit I know. There’s free tea and an Aldi ‘Wacko’ at half time too.
    Luxury.

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  23. 23
    JACK the HAT.

    (9,10)
    You can always support the “Quality” down Low Hill City, if thats the way you feel.

    (19)
    Yea, They played in the Premiership and got relegated so they’ve proved themselves alright.

    Turned down ALBION to join wolves!, I’m glad some-one believes paper talk.

    Never forgave us for all the whipings we’ve given you and nicking Thomas from off your training ground.

    ~~~~BOING~~~~BOING~~~~JtH.

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  24. 24
    The Real Bully Hoo.

    I see Berg has signed on loan for PSV. Made his name in Holland but it’s not the hardest league in the World to score lots of goals in. Too many strikers make their names there and then fail elsewhere.
    I still think we’ll sign a striker that no one has linked with us but I’d rule out Klose or Forlan. Remember you heard it here first.

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  25. 25
    wolf in nottingham

    Would Happy Baggie like to qualify how he calls our summer purchases ‘jumble sale panic buys’??????

    Mick knew who he wanted, went and got them……no sign of any panicking me thinks!

    If I was you, I would be panicking about your lack of activity.

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  26. 26
    Happy_baggie

    25 – if those players were top of micks list then it wasn’t a very big list…. its like walking into a restaurant and ordering what someone else was eating without looking at the menu.

    Everyone knows that there will be quality players available closer to the season but Mick has brought the first players he thought of (buy off the relegated teams – very original).

    19 – funny how your signings get relegated but now have “experience” yet our players who were relegated are now rubbish because of it….
    Neutral wolf – Neutered wolf more like….

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  27. 27
    baggieinmanc

    19,
    No-one wanted Van Damme. When he was linked with the Baggies we all whinced. Same goes for Hunt. Apparently even Hull fans didn’t seem to think he was worth much, if you read thier posts. They saw you coming.
    Finally Fletcher. O.K not a bad player but he is worth £3-4 Million at very best.
    You’ve got more money than sense and in the present climate that’s not a good combination.
    As for Valero, glad to see it’s a permanent signing in 12 months. I’m sure we’ll see more activity on the horizon.
    Boing Boing.

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