Former striker explains why he failed to become a hit at Tottenham

Roberto Soldado has opened up on some of the struggles which he experienced following his move to Tottenham Hotspur.

The Spaniard made the move to White Hart Lane for a then club-record £26m in August 2013 (Independent) after a prolific spell at Valencia where he scored 81 times in 141 appearances in all competitions (transfermarkt).

Soldado failed to reach the same heights at Tottenham where he made 76 appearances for the club and only netted on 16 occasions (transfermarkt).

The striker’s prospects of becoming a hit in the Premier League was also stifled by the emergence of Harry Kane and was eventually sold to Villarreal in 2015 in a deal said to be in the region of £7million (BBC).

Soldado has now claimed that he believed that his style would suit the rigours of the Premier League but claimed that the fact that his family failed to settle in London made his spell at the club even more challenging.

“It was a league that attracted me a lot,” he told Spanish outlet AS.

“I thought my game could adapt very well, but the reality was very different.

“I suffered a lot every time I was on the field, it was a very physical football, and I saw myself overcome on all sides.

“Perhaps mentally being away, the language, affected me a lot, my family did not quite fit in with London very well, and they were two very hard years because I did not enjoy them.”