U.S. national team striker Jozy Altidore has confirmed in his column that he signed a six-year contract with his new club Villarreal, and that he will be earning significantly more than he did in Major League Soccer with New York. No need to hold the Times’ front page with the latter revelation.
Altidore writes that he was surprised by the number of fans who greeted him at the team’s training facility when he visited this week. “There were a lot more people than I expected. But nothing like the 30,000 who greeted Thierry Henry when he signed with Barcelona! But it was incredibly welcoming. People were screaming and going crazy. It definitely was the best moment of the trip.”
His contract is worth “a lot, lot more than I was making with the Red Bulls. I just don’t want to go into the details. But I think everyone knows that I’m not going to stay there for six years. We just did the contract that way because it’s better for me financially.” He is unfazed by talk of a loan deal to another Spanish club because “it doesn’t matter to me either way. I’d love to stay with the team, but either way, it’s going to be better for me and if I do get loaned out it would mean playing all the time, and that’s a big plus.”