local attachment, training, unparalleled recruitment… The Villarreal model, surprise guest of the Champions League semi-finals

“Here, there are 50,000 inhabitants, and their stadiums have 70,000 seats.” With this observation, Etienne Capoue wonderfully underlines the Villarreal paradox. A secondary city in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula, 60 kilometers north of Valencia, Villarreal finds itself in the semi-finals of the Champions League, Wednesday April 27, alongside the behemoths Liverpool, Manchester and Madrid. Rich metropolises, with powerful clubs, all at least ten times greater than Villarreal in terms of population.

A success built thanks to a model very different from that of “foot business”. When the major transfers of its competitors burst the ceilings, the biggest purchase in the history of Villarreal, which was made last summer with Arnaut Danjuma, amounts to less than 25 million euros. Author of sixteen goals this season, the Dutch international is already estimated at double. The resale is, however, not in the DNA of the club which has been able to retain its best players after the coronation in the Europa League last year.

A continental victory, snatched after an interminable penalty shootout, symbol of the first major title for the Yellow Submarine since its creation in 1923. The reward for the work of twenty years for Fernando Roig, an investor born in Valencia who took over the club in 1998 while playing in the second division. Having made his fortune in ceramics, the province’s main industrial activity, in 2017 he renamed the El Madrigal stadium to La Ceramica, bringing together several companies in the sector.

Because the local fiber is what makes the soul of this club and, a fortiori, of its stadium, whose capacity (23,500 people) is equivalent to almost half of the population. The ticket prices for the Champions League semi-final would make fans of all the clubs present at this stage of the competition dream. Subscribers were able to obtain seats from 25 euros (10 for those under 25) and only up to 70 euros in the side stands (35 for young people).

A culture instilled in the players by the current coach, Unaï Emery, attached to these values. “When I arrived, he spoke to me a lot, to understand his style of play and the culture of Villarreal”, says Etienne Capoue, who arrived in January 2021, to AFP. Since then, the Frenchman has been conquered by the yellow city. “I want to continue the adventure with Villarreal”adds the midfielder.

An anchoring in the territory also marked by the training of young talents from the city and the Valencian community. Pau Torres is the perfect example, he Xiquet del poble (child of the people in Valencian), born in Vila-real, trained at the Villarreal Club de Fútbol and now a starter. An ascent, in part, due to the club’s investment in two training centers to welcome young talents from the region from the age of eight and other Iberian talents from adolescence.

A proven recipe, in the absence of a large budget to recruit. Mario Gaspar, Alfonso Pedraza, Samuel Chukwueze and Yeremi Pino were trained at the club or passed through the reserves before joining the first team. Rodri, a Spanish international and Manchester City player, is one of the club’s greatest successes in his training, along with Pau Torres, regularly called up by Luis Enrique for selection.

To perfect this training, the club sniffs out the good moves on the transfer market. Giovani Lo Celso on loan, Dani Parejo and Francis Coquelin after the difficulties of Valence, or even Serge Aurier, free, are the perfect illustration of this.

With a financial envelope of 138 million euros for the 2021-2022 season, Villarreal is the fifth Spanish budget. For comparison, it’s a little less than Lille, but far from the standards of Lyon, Marseille and Monaco, with less impressive results on the European scene lately.

In Liverpool, the yellow submarine will be accompanied by 3,000 of its fervent supporters who have lined up in numbers in the streets of Vila-real to renew their passports and gain access to British soil. “We all live in a yellow submarine”, sang the Beatles. In Villarreal, no one seems to live underwater, but everyone vibrates for its yellow submarine.