Fifteen million for a 22-year-old out of Brussels
Villarreal have done what Villarreal usually do. The Yellow Submarine have completed the signing of Nathan Saliba, the 22-year-old Canadian midfielder arriving from Anderlecht for 15 million euros, according to Foot Mercato.
The club built its reputation on exactly this kind of business. Move early, pay a number that makes people raise an eyebrow at the time, then sell for a multiple two or three seasons down the line. Saliba slots straight into that template.
Try it for $0.99.
Nobody pays that for a bench option
The fee tells you where he sits in the plan. Saliba is 22 and still had time left on his Anderlecht contract, so Brussels were never going to hand him over cheaply. Villarreal met the price for a midfielder they intend to rotate into the side, not park behind three others.
Belgium to La Liga in the last week of the window
The jump is real. La Liga runs at a different tempo than the Belgian first division, and the tactical demands scale up with it. Saliba has roughly a week before the window shuts and not much longer than that before the fixtures start mattering.
Which brings up the question that shadows every deal like this until December. Minutes. How many he actually gets.
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