Crystal Palace have signed Yeremy Pino from Villarreal for a fee in excess of €25million (£21.6m; $29.2m).
The 22-year-old has signed a five-year contract, with Pino to wear the No 10 shirt vacated by Eberechi Eze at Selhurst Park.
As part of this summer’s transfer coverage on The Athletic, in addition to breaking news, tactical analysis and in-depth reads, our Transfers TLDR series (you can read them all here) will bring you a quick guide to each of the key deals.
Give me his backstory in 100 words…
Pino is from the holiday island of Gran Canaria, where he had his first taste of academy football with Las Palmas. He rejected interest from Barcelona to join Villarreal in 2017, breaking into the first team under Unai Emery in 2020-21.
He enjoyed an excellent debut campaign, becoming the youngest Europa League winner at age 18 when Villarreal beat Manchester United in the final. A serious knee injury derailed 2023-24 and meant he was not at his best to begin last season. But he eventually started 25 La Liga games and ended strongly, with three goals and three assists in his final seven league appearances.
Cerys Jones
Pino has signed a five-year contract (CPFC/Micah Crook/KontentHaus)What should and shouldn’t I expect to see from him?
Palace fans can prepare themselves for lots of direct wing-play with an end-product. Pino’s scouting report on the data website FBref puts him in the 99th percentile (in other words, the top one per cent) of players in his position across Europe’s big five domestic leagues for assists, expected assists and progressive passes received.
A player who gets himself in good, wide positions and makes the most of the service he receives, in contrast, the 22-year-old Spaniard is in the bottom 25 per cent for progressive passes and the bottom 21 per cent for aerial duals won (he is only 5ft 8in/172cm tall), so he is not somebody to make the play or contribute too much in the air.
Steve Madeley
How will he fit in tactically?
Pino, while largely viewed as a right-winger, is a versatile forward capable of operating in the left No 10 role vacated by Eberechi Eze’s recent move to Arsenal, as evidenced by his chances-created map from the past three La Liga seasons.
Having played 15 times for Spain, Pino does not boast the same ball-carrying ability as Eze but has admirable close control and acceleration, making him a threat in transition. Pino is daring with his passes, often trying to slip his attacking partners in with through balls from the half spaces.
This assist for Santi Comesana in May’s 3-2 away win against Barcelona is a great example of his positional awareness, vision and execution.
Pino also works hard out of possession, which is crucial to Palace manager Oliver Glasner’s system, and is a creative threat from corners and free kicks.
Patience will be required as he adjusts to the English game, but he has the attributes to excel for the FA Cup holders.
Anantaajith Raghuraman
How’s his injury record?
Pino’s promising career juddered to a halt in November 2023, when he tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee, an injury that kept him out for the remainder of that season and the following summer’s European Championship in Germany. Since returning to the Villarreal squad at the beginning of last term, he has started 27 of their 40 La Liga games, including both so far in the 2025-26 campaign.
According to data website Transfermarkt, an ankle issue also ruled him out from the April until the end of the 2021-22 season when he was in Villarreal’s academy system.
Cerys Jones
(Gualter Fatia/Getty Images)Someone who knows him says…
Nando Martinez, then part of Villarreal youth coaching staff, told Spanish newspaper El Pais in December 2020: “Yeremy stands out for his personality in facing up to competition. The more difficult the challenge, the more capable he is of showing his potential. He’s kept the essence of when he played in the street as a youngster.”
Steve Madeley
What do we know about the finances of this deal?
Crystal Palace have paid Villarreal a fee above £21.6m for Pino, who has signed a five-year contract, tying him to Selhurst Park until June 2030. A further £4.5m in add-ons could head the La Liga club’s way in the future.
Chris Weatherspoon
What impact will this have on both clubs’ PSR calculation?
Assuming agent fees of the usual 10 per cent, and including the four per cent Premier League transfer levy, Pino will cost Palace at least £24.6million. That figure is before any future add-ons materialise and, plainly, does not include whatever his salary is going to be, which will push the cost of signing and employing him rather higher.
In terms of the annual hit to Palace’s books, Pino’s fee will add £4.3m in amortisation costs this season, then a further £5.1m annually until the end of the 2029-30 campaign.
Pino had been at Villarreal since the age of 14, meaning his book value is minimal and the Spanish side will book the majority of the approximate €25m fee as profit. The small exception stems from world football governing body FIFA’s solidarity mechanism, which is applied to international transfers — this means clubs who held a player’s registration between the ages of 12 and 23 are due a cut of the overall transfer fee if they move on later in their career.
Villarreal are going to keep the bulk of the money but Pino, who turns 23 in late October, did spend his early teenage years with Las Palmas, so they will be due in the region of €125,000 (£108,000; $146,000).
Chris Weatherspoon
(Top photo: Getty Images)