Tottenham confirms sale of Roberto Soldado to Villarreal

This one sucks to write, but it has to be done.

Two summers ago, Spurs fans were celebrating the arrival of a proven striker, one who had torched La Liga at Osasuna, Getafe, and Valencia. He was supposed to be the one to lead a new attack with the likes of Christian Eriksen, Erik Lamela, and Nacer Chadli. Sadly, that didn't happen, and now after two disappointing seasons, we have to say goodbye.

Tottenham Hotspur has confirmed the transfer of Roberto Soldado.

We have reached agreement with La Liga side Villarreal for the transfer of @R9Soldado. We wish Roberto all the best. pic.twitter.com/H4AKtZkQI7

— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) August 14, 2015

This has taken longer than expected, but it picked up steam late last week when Mauricio Pochettino confirmed that he allowed Soldado to head to Spain while the club took on Manchester United. The writing was on the wall at that point, but the question remained as to who was going to purchase him. The two Spanish clubs involved the most, Sevilla and Villarreal, both had genuine interest but neither were being marked as the front runners. It became clear quickly over the weekend, though, that Villarreal was the spot for Soldado.

There are conflicting reports on the transfer fee.  ESPNFC is stating that the fee is for £10m, while Andrew Gaffney, who is generally pretty tuned in to Spurs transfers, had some insight as well.

Reliably informed the fee for Roberto Soldado is £7m (€9.8m), rising to to about £7.2m (€10.2m) depending on clauses being met. #COYS

— Andrew Gaffney (@GaffneyVLC) August 14, 2015

Soldado joined Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2013 as part of the "Bale Seven" and, at the time, was reported to be the club's record signing at £26m. This number has been in dispute since it appears there was a base fee of £13m plus add-ons that may or may not have been reached. Soldado leaves Tottenham with 76 overall appearances and just 16 goals across all competitions.

If there's one thing Spurs supporters can agree on is that Roberto's professionalism was never in question during his time in North London. His interaction with fans and wanting to repay them for their support showed a player who genuinely cared about Tottenham. We just had hoped that Roberto Soldado the footballer was as good as Roberto Soldado the teammate and human being. If that had been the case, he'd have been one of the best in the world.

We hope your return to Spain is a return to the form that made you lethal in La Liga.

EDIT: Bobby has posted a thank you on his Instagram.

A true professional until the end. Godspeed, Bobby Soldier.