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OFFICIAL: Villarreal make Juan Foyth’s loan permanent

The Europa League winner is staying in Spain.

Villarreal CF v Manchester United - UEFA Europa League Final Photo by Boris Streubel - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images

Tottenham Hotspur have just sold their first player. Following up to a tweet from Spanish journalist Javi Mata on Twitter, Villarreal have formally opted to trigger the purchase clause for Juan Foyth, meaning he will stay at the Yellow Submarine on a permanent basis. Tottenham formally announced the move on Friday morning.

The optional purchase clause, part of Foyth’s season-long loan agreement with Villarreal this past season, is reportedly €13m (£11m), which doesn’t seem like a lot considering Spurs reportedly paid about £7m for him back in 2017 from Estudiantes. But it is a small profit during COVID financial struggletimes on a player who was never fully trusted by Mauricio Pochettino or Jose Mourinho, and seemed happy to leave.

It’s hard to argue that he made a bad choice, considering he won the Europa League with Villarreal this spring after getting clocked in the head, gracing us with one of the most incredible victory pictures we’ve ever seen.

Foyth always seemed to have tons of potential but was something of a lunatic on the pitch in central defense. The Villarreal fans certainly seem to like him, though, so good for him. I hope he has a wonderful career in Spain at a club where Spurs are unlikely to ever have to play against him.

Let’s give him Juan shining moment on his way out the door — here’s a video clip of the red card he received in a match against Bournemouth two minutes after he came on as a substitute, a dismissal which put Spurs down to 9 men. Enjoy, and godspeed to Juan on his new adventure. I’m legitimately sorry things didn’t work out.