Frenchman Loic Remy has completed a season-long loan move to Newcastle from championship side Queens Park Rangers (QPR), while Tottenham Hotspur have completed a £26m club-record signing of Roberto Soldado.
Soldado, 28, joined Spurs from Valencia, where he scored 30 goals in 46 matches last season. He will wear the number nine shirt.
“I’m absolutely honoured to be at this club,” Soldado, who has 11 caps for Spain, told the club’s official website.
“I’m hoping that I can score lots of goals to repay the club’s kindness in signing me.”
The Spaniard signed a four year contract with Spurs after passing his medical on Monday and is expected to be available for the club’s final pre-season friendly against Espanyol at White hart Lane on Saturday.
“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, they have lots of good, young players and they are a dangerous team to play against,” the former Real Madrid youth setup player added.
His recruitment takes Spurs’ summer spending to the region of £50m, following the arrival of midfielder Paulinho from Corinthians for nearly £17m (previous club-record signing) and winger Nacer Chadli from FC Twente for a fee thought to be around £7m.
Soldado was part of the Spain squad that reached the final of the Confederations Cup last month, scoring in the group win over Uruguay.
Meanwhile, Remy is determined to become a success at Newcastle to boost his chances of making the France squad for the 2014 World Cup.
The 26-year-old became the eleventh Frenchman in Newcastle’s first team squad and Magpies’ first major signing of the summer, on joining Alan Pardew’s side from QPR after completing his medical on Monday.
“I’m very motivated this year to get into the World Cup squad for my country,” Remy, who has scored four times in 18 appearances for Les Bleus told Newcastle’s website.
“I know in order to do that I need to have a big season and successful campaign with Newcastle United.”
Newcastle had earlier tried to sign Remy from Olympique Marseille early January but the deal failed to materialise as the 26-year-old opted for a higher financial package of more than £70,000 a week from QPR in an £8m move.
“I was very flattered by the cub’s interest in me back in January and also very happy that they showed interest in me again this summer,” he added.
His six goals for Harry Redknapp’s side last season could not save QPR from going down to second tier of English football.
Remy was arrested in May on suspicion of rape. He was released on bail until a date in September.
