COLUMN: Villarreal lead La Liga in familiar fashion, but can they ever be the same club? | OneFootball

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In receiving €72m for Alex Baena and Thierno Barry, Villarreal did what that club does best: sell high on its top assets, and place bets on young players or market opportunities to replace them.

In signing Thomas Partey to a one-year contract, the Yellow Submarine changed tack and broke with its reputation as a family-friendly club that covets youth and has an outstanding developmental track record.

Of course, after two rounds of La Liga, no one is really talking about Thomas, a footballer who returns to Spain after he was accused of five rapes and one sexual assault in the United Kingdom. Villarreal’s support of a measure to move its December fixture against FC Barcelona to Miami isn’t setting social media ablaze right now either, though you read Miguel Pereira last week discuss the Groguets’ new trend of appearing on the wrong side of moral trenches.

Image via Villarreal CF

This is because winning cures everything. And after two rounds, Villarreal are top of the table with two wins, seven goals scored, and nil conceded.

In anticipation of their return to the Champions League, Marcelino’s men eased to a season-opening 2-0 win over newly-promoted Real Oviedo in round one before bashing Girona – who have to be considered relegation candidates, even at this early stage – to the tune of 5-0 on Sunday.

Amid Marcelino’s calls for a new forward, Tajon Buchanan – purchased for €9m from Inter Milan – played the part by scoring a hat trick against Girona. Buchanan is part of a €60m spending spree at La Ceramica this window, as Villarreal have taken advantage of Baena’s departure to Atletico Madrid and Barry’s exit to Everton to reload. Buchanan, a former Major League Soccer standout, already has scored more goals (3) than he did across 13 appearances (1) for the Yellow Submarine in 2024/25.

After breaking the club transfer record to sign Barry a year ago, Villarreal spent €24.5m (not including bonuses) to sign Chelsea’s out-of-favour defender Renato Veiga, who had been strongly linked to Atletico earlier in the window. Following Baena’s club-record sale to Atleti, those clubs did business again when Villarreal signed Santiago Mourino for around €10m, the Uruguayan coming in to replace Logan Costa after the Cape Verde international suffered an awful knee injury last month.

The Mourino signing is another one we’ve come to associate with Villarreal. He starred at right-back against Girona on Sunday, while his former club Atletico is noticeably light on strong right-footed defenders. Mourino’s rise to prominence has been swift; on loan at Alaves last year, he struggled for regular minutes until February, and now he looks like a perfect fit in a Marcelino defense. The strength, versatility, and ball-playing traits he has shown make you wonder what about him didn’t convince Cholo Simeone.

The Veiga deal is a risky move for a club in Villarreal’s position – but then, by signing Thomas, the club is making it clear that its future is now, not later. Thus, it doesn’t really matter that Veiga signed a seven-year contract to play in Castellon, nor that Chelsea are entitled to a 40% sell-on clause when Veiga leaves Villarreal. With a skill-set tailored to centre-back, left-back, and even defensive midfield, Portugal international Veiga too is someone you could imagine at Atletico – but he’s joined a rival club instead.

To replace Baena, pound-for-pound the best shot-creator in Spain since the fall of 2023, Villarreal swooped for Las Palmas gem Alberto Moleiro. He’s played only 42 minutes across two rounds, but Moleiro left indications as to his massive potential on Gran Canaria, where the young playmaker showed off his technical skill and strong ball-carrying.

Villarreal are not done making deals yet, either. The club reportedly is trying to sign goalkeeper Arnau Tenas from Paris Saint-Germain; Artem Dovbyk, the Pichichi winner two years ago, is out of Roma’s plans and could find a new home at La Ceramica. Internal improvement is expected, too; Yeremy Pino now is almost two years removed from an ACL tear, while 21-year-old forward Etta Eyong looks like a baller.

Image via Santiago Mourino / Twitter/X

Yet what could be one of LaLiga’s feel-good stories – if everything clicks here, Villarreal are easily the league’s fourth-best side – has been sullied amidst the Miami fiasco and the Thomas signing, which prompted enough discomfort to where Villarreal fans created a petition to halt his arrival. The club’s wordy statement, which took the passive voice to “prove” its respect for “the fundamental principle of the presumption of innocence” in Thomas’ case, did little to quell fans’ dissatisfaction. The player though has not started either of the two games so far and has played just 53 minutes, Marcelino preferring the Pape Gueye – Santi Comesana pair to this point.

Regardless, these are two messes of Villarreal’s own making, which threaten to derail one of Spanish football’s model clubs, a side from a city of 50,000 people that long has been an example in how to do more with less. Now though, it’s possible the Groguets have bitten off more than they can chew.