Villarreal’s ability to repeat their sixth-place finish this season was a fine achievement by Coach Marcelino and his players. It proved to doubters their exploits in their first season back in the top flight wasn’t a fluke. Several players in the squad contributed in qualifying for the Europa League – but two played a pivotal role.
Gerard Moreno and Luciano Vietto have enjoyed tremendous debut campaigns in La Liga – Moreno elevated from the cantera, while Vietto was acquired from Argentine outfit Racing Club for €6.5m.
Prior to Moreno’s promotion to the first team, the 23-year-old had mainly played through the club’s youth and B teams. In the summer of 2013, he was sent to Mallorca on a season-long loan to gain some first-team experience. His time in La Segunda was profitable as he scored 11 goals and created seven assists in 31 League games. Moreno’s form during his loan spell persuaded Villarreal to keep him at the club instead of sending him out on loan again and gave the striker the chance to mix it with the seniors. It was one he duly seized.
Finishing 2014-15 with an impressive 16 strikes – seven of which came in the League, four in the Europa League and five in the Copa del Rey – and five assists, the attacker has already been linked with English giants Arsenal, though that could be to do with transfer speculation rather than firm interest from Arsene Wenger.
There are two reasons why Villarreal must tie Moreno down to a new contract. Firstly, the forward is out of contract in 12 months’ time, which means any club aware of Moreno’s abilities could take advantage of the situation. Secondly, his buyout fee is a mere €4m, thereby leaving the Yellow Submarine highly susceptible to losing the player for a cut-price fee.
But if Moreno has enjoyed an exemplary first season then Vietto has been nothing short of scintillating. The Argentine has scored 20 goals, with 12 in the league and eight in the Europa League, this term. His lethality in front of goal is reinforced by his creativity, which has seen him lay off eight assists overall. Vietto’s ability to beat players with his dribbling is matched by his fondness of cutting inside and shooting, whether it be inside or outside the box.
However, out of Moreno and Vietto, it’s the latter who is likely to leave. The 21-year-old’s list of admirers is long – notably from the Premier League, where Arsenal and Liverpool have been linked with a move, but the biggest advances have come from closer to home in Atletico Madrid. Los Colchoneros’ interest has grown in recent days and talk of activating Vietto’s €20m release clause has intensified.
Villarreal have tried to persuade Vietto to stay, but the lure of Champions League football and working under Diego Simeone again could be too good to turn down. If there's one certainty then should Moreno or Vietto, if not both, leave the club this summer, the money generated from their sales will be wisely invested.
Nonetheless, losing the pair would be a blow in light of their huge contributions of the past season.
