Spurs deserve to be in the Champions League: Soldado

Tottenham Hotspur made a major acquisition ahead of the new English Premier League season. They snapped up Valencia striker and Spain international Roberto Soldado for 30 million euros ($39.93 million), a record for the north London team.

Soldado, who scored 30 goals in 46 appearances for Valencia last season and was on target six times in 11 matches for Spain, joins fellow-new recruits Paulinho and Nacer Chadli at Spurs.

While speculation over the future of star player Gareth Bale continues, Spurs, who finished fifth last season, are leaving no stone unturned to mount a serious challenge for the Premier League title this season.

Soldado believes Spurs deserve to be in the Champions League and has vowed to lead the club to a top four finish next season with a bagful of goals.

Read the full interview:

Welcome to Spurs!  What are your initial impressions of the Club?

I’m absolutely honoured to be at this club, to wear the shirt that has so much history. I’m hoping that I can score lots of goals to repay the club’s kindness in signing me.

What have you made of our progress while you were in Spain?

Spurs is a great club and a club that deserves to be in the Champions League. I know it’s a hard league and we have to work and play to that level to get there and I will do my best for the team.

We’ve signed Nacer Chadli and Paulinho, what do you think of your fellow signings and the squad we have here?

I’ve joined a great club with a lot of great players. As a group, including the new players, we’re looking to improve and our objective is to get Spurs to where the club belongs.

You scored many goals in La Liga.  Are you looking forward to getting started in the Premier League?

I’ve come here as a striker to score goals. I always try to achieve more goals in the next season, so that will be my aim, to score as many goals as I can for Spurs next season.

Spurs have always been known for their attacking brand of football.  Was that an attraction for you?

I love playing in a team like that, a team that holds onto the ball and then attacks. It’s Andre [Villas-Boas]’s style and it’s good for the fans to see that [style of] football and for the team as well.

You will play your first game at White Hart Lane this weekend against a team you know well in Espanyol.  What can you tell us about them?

I’m really looking forward to hopefully making my debut at White Hart Lane on Saturday. Espanyol is a team I know very well. It’s a team that ended the season very strongly in Spain last season, they have lots of good, young players and they are a dangerous team to play against.

Are you looking forward to playing in front of our fans at the Lane for the first time?

I’m really looking forward to it. That’s one of the things that’s at the heart of the Premier League, the fans of each team, that’s what keeps the team going. I can’t wait to experience that atmosphere.

What are your targets this season?

My main aim is to get that number one striker shirt on the pitch and obviously, to score goals and try to get us into the Champions League, where we deserve to be.