Roberto Soldado interview

New Valencia CF signing Roberto Soldado spoke to the Spanish sports daily "AS" about his transfer to Valencia and what he wants and expects to achieve.

Roberto Soldado said he wanted to exceed the number of goals he scored this season with Getafe.
"Every player's objective is to perform better than himself every year and I am a young player that is in the process of improving. I can give more than I gave Getafe. I have come to a big team and I can contribute positive things to the team."

When reminded that he made his Liga debut with Real Madrid against Valencia he had this in responce: "It was something very special to me, debuting with the Real Madrid first team. Now I am here and it is a dream that has finally come true."

Roberto Soldado also commented on several other topics, including a question about the current bad economic situation at Valencia, he respond: "The last thing I am thinking about is the club's economic situation. This club has a lot of prestige and if the team is put at the top, the rest will come."

When Questioned about coach Unai Emery, he replied: "He has done great work and last year they had a great season, not only in La Liga, but also in Europe."

When questioned about the big two and what he thought for the competition, Soldado responded: "Our idea is to compete with the big teams. We know that they are more economically strong and that makes things easier for them. But we believe ourselves to be a big side and we want to compete with the rest."

He than went on to comment about Champions League football and how excited he is to play is such a big tournament. "For a footballer, at club level the most one can aspire to is to play in the Champions League. It is like mother's milk! It cannot be compared with any other competition and we are going to give people a lot to talk about. I hope things go well for us there."

Soldado also spoke about his national team future and he said: "My first step will be to earn myself a spot here [at Valencia], to have the coach's confidence and demonstrate my work ethic and ability to score goals on the pitch. Doing those things well at Valencia, I am sure I will have the opportunity to play with La Seleccion."

Finally, Soldado acknowledged that he would be compared to the departed David Villa, but hoped that he could carve his own niche into Valencia history. "Sure, there will be people that will make comparisons, but I don't come here as a substitute for anyone, only to help the team. Everything I know I will try to develop on the pitch. I believe we have a very good squad to cover those who have left. The important thing is to be united and if we are convinced of our own abilities, surely we will win something."