Raul Moro is a winger with magic in his boots – & half the Prem chasing his signature
January is a time of outer gloom and inner optimism in the United Kingdom.
Christmas has gone, New Year has been navigated and the next rotation of the earth around the sun can be met without the previous year’s sins weighing down our consciousness.
For Premier League clubs, January can be a time to reinforce in an attempt to secure silverware or hitch the equivalent of 10000 volts into the veins of an almost moribund season.
Targets are identified, the groundwork laid and pitches that would embarrass an Apprentice contestant in their faux-sincerity and bombast are given to bemused Iberians and their agents.
The bemused Iberian on the receiving end of this footballing love bombing in 2025 looks set to be Real Valladolid winger Raul Moro.
Liverpool want him to bolster their title-chasing attack, Nottingham Forest want him to bolster their unexpected push for Europe and Manchester City want him just to feel something again.
Tottenham are also interested, but we’ve scoured Moro’s history and there’s nothing to suggest a self-defeating inclination towards unnecessary suffering.
Why are all these English clubs interested in the former La Masia graduate, who only joined Valladolid over the summer from Lazio and plays for a team stranded in the La Liga relegation zone?
The asking price, with Valladolid prepared to accept offers of around €10million, is surely part of the appeal; the fee is loose change for the fattened cats of England’s top division.
But Moro also represents a throwback to a more improvised style of play long lost to clubs with Premier League ambitions. Regimented, rigid formations are the flavour of the moment, with each contender to the crown committed to a version of control ball.
The 22-year-old is a player from a bygone era, willing to take on opponents and carry the ball deep into opposition territory.
Once there, Moro doesn’t check back and pass the ball sideways; he whips crosses into areas that give defenders nightmares and represent meat and drink to any striker worthy of the name.
His feet are quicker than the fingers of a Victorian pickpocket, regularly tying opponents in knots and displaying an array of tricks worthy of the circus.
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Moro’s brilliance is evident, although the player believes that he can still improve a lot.
“I still have a lot of room for improvement,” he said in a recent interview with AS. “When you feel loved in a place and you feel good, when nothing goes wrong around you, the football that a player has ends up coming out.
“Since I arrived at Valladolid I have felt upwards, with more and more confidence and weight and that is good for a player and that is why I think I can continue to improve”.
Valladolid manager Domingo Catoira assured that the club will reject offers for any player in the squad, but nothing escapes the fact that Morois on the agendas of several teams even for this winter market.
“I try to isolate myself and I haven’t seen much; I’m focused on finishing the year here and doing well, because if you don’t do well at your club, those things never come and my mentality is to do well here and then we’ll see.”
Three goals and one assist in La Liga this season aren’t to be sniffed at, especially in a struggling team, and Moro has the potential to grow into Premier League football.
He is a player to warm the hearts of supporters chilled by the UK’s gloomy January weather and offer optimism of brighter and sunnier days to come.
Put simply, Raul Moro is the bargain buy that no Premier League team should be passing up this window.
By Michael Lee