Fernando Roig threatens Villarreal exit amid fan backlash

Villarreal owner Fernando Roig has threatened to walk away from the club amid criticism from supporters.

It has been a tricky start to the season for the Yellows, who have picked up just eight points so far, already sacking one manager and bringing in another.

For many fans, the cause of the difficult start falls on the board, who sanctioned the sale of three key players over the summer before largely resisting replacing those players with new signings.

Free signings were secured, and the relatively cheap arrival of Alexander Sortloth followed, but fans were still left unhappy.

That has led to Roig making a pretty concerning threat during an interview with Diario AS.

“I ask our people to be with the team now, because if there are nerves and tension everything is more difficult,” he said. “Our first objective is to always be in the first division, but to achieve it every year we must always be united and even more so when things can be complicated.

“We are in a complicated situation because several things have come together, Emery left, we have made decisions, we have made mistakes, things have happened that have complicated us, but now we must be united to continue growing.

“If people don’t change and don’t push, I will consider leaving. It costs a lot to do things right. We have a team in the first division, another in the second division and another in the women’s first division.People have to realize where we are.

“We all want the best for Villarreal. Whistling and protesting will not achieve anything. Together, with effort, we will achieve things. Is there anyone who has a better alternative to what is being done at Villarreal?Then let them come. I am ready for anything.”

Speaking about the financial gymnastics, Roig added: “In soccer there are three groups of teams with different budgets. We can’t be with the top three in the league, but we can be with the second group of between five and eight teams if we work well.

“But we, compared to those, collect between 15 and 35 million euros less in season tickets than the others. This is an annual handicap. That forces us to sell players every season, or at least every three seasons to balance budgets.

“That is what we have done this year after not selling anyone in the last two seasons. Now we have had to deal with that deficit and that is done with sales in order to remain in economic balance. We have earned around 69 million euros, between sales and expenses. There are only two solutions. Either we sell players or the 19,000 season ticket holders pay 1,500 euros each per season ticket”.