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Villarreal opted this summer for veterancy to rebuild their defense. After a season in which he flirted with the descent, the club decided to change his rear guard from top to bottom and gave the gallons to Raúl Albiol (Valencia, 1985), who thus began his new life in LaLiga after his Italian stage. The plant was already about to wear yellow a year ago but it was not possible to finalize its 'repatriation', which has cost Villarreal four million euros , the price contained in its termination clause.

Albiol was aware that the time had come to return home, although it almost was already Naples . "I want to thank everyone, a city that I love with madness, which I will always carry in my heart and which I will never forget. In Italy I could not have gone anywhere else. I cried when making that decision and my wife and I still cry. I already had the option of leaving on other occasions, but I never managed to make the determination to leave Naples . Now, with almost 34 years, it is normal for me to throw you back home, to be close to the family again " , he said at his farewell in San Paolo.

In order to convince him, Villarreal placed a contract on the table until 2022 for a player who will turn 34 next Wednesday and has a record of which not many can boast . They look, above all, the World Cup and the two European Cups won in the triumphant cycle of the national team. Already at the club level he raised a League during his stage at Real Madrid, three Cups (Valencia, Real Madrid and Naples) and two Super Cups, in addition to a UEFA , although his participation in that Rafa Beníte z team was almost testimonial.

The Madrid coach was, precisely, the great architect of making the leap to Italy after five years at the Bernabéu, a stage he remembers with love. "I have some colleagues left. It was a few years that you can never forget, with world-class partners and that helps you grow and improve and helped me a lot to make the jump to Italy. I am happy to face them because it is one of the best teams in the world , in history, and they are always special matches, "he acknowledged this week. Real Madrid keeps another special memory because it was the team against which he scored his first goal in Primera, the season in which he was assigned to Getafe, shortly after recovering from a serious traffic accident .

It is not to score goals but to avoid their main mission in a Villarreal in which they are forming a curious couple of centrals with Pau Torres , who at 22 years old has taken ownership to accompany Albiol. "When I was young I played with high level centrals and learned from them. Now it's my turn to be the veteran but I can also learn from young people . I will try to help them, just as they can help me. The most important thing is communication, the concentration in the field. Pau has a very good future, you see him work with desire to learn and improve, "says the central while adapting to his new life

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