Villarreal manager Marcelino believes that Spanish football has taken a step backwards this summer, pointing to Yeremy Pino’s move to Crystal Palace as an example.
[El Pais cover comments](https://elpais.com/) from the manager today, in which it’s clear he’s gutted that one of his star men left for Crystal Palace this summer.
Pino left to join Palace at the end of the window in a €30m deal as they sought a replacement for Eberechi Eze, who left to join Arsenal.
The move brought an end to a six-year association with Villarreal, who he joined in 2019 as part of the C team before moving up to the first team a year later.
He went on to make 170 appearances in all competitions for the club from there, with 22 goals and 23 assists to his name, and was considered a rising star in Spanish football before a cruciate ligament injury in 2023 curtailed things.
He spent 214 days on the treatment table and missed 39 games for club and country in total with the injury, the most significant one of his career to date.
That didn’t stop him from being a Villarreal star, though, and Marcelino, who only had him for 37 games in total, is clearly gutted to have lost him to Crystal Palace.
“We’ve taken a step backward,” he said when asked if Spanish football is in a recession.
“Most teams have much less financial power than they had seven or eight years ago. Crystal Palace signed a player from us \[Yeremy Pino\], and it’s impossible to get into the fight. Any English club offers double your salary.”