Tonny Vilhena signs a contract with RCD Espanyol on Monday. The second club of Barcelona takes over the 27-year-old midfielder from Maassluis from the Russian FK Krasnodar.
Vilhena is initially rented, but Espanyol has negotiated an option to buy. Espanyol is currently in 11th place in La Liga, just six points behind number six FC Barcelona. Vilhena can already look forward to the city derby against Barcelona on February 13, but first the team of coach Vicente Moreno (47) will play against Cádiz, Real Betis and Athletic Bilbao.
Espanyol played continuously at the highest level in Spain from 1994 to 2020, but finished last in La Liga a year and a half ago. Last season, Espanyol became champion in the Segunda División by staying ahead of Real Mallorca on goal difference.
Vilhena is on 15 international matches, but has not yet scored for the Orange. He played his last international match on November 19, 2018, when the Orange squad still drew 2-2 in Germany in the Nations League.
The left-footed midfielder has played in Feyenoord’s youth academy since he was eight, where he eventually came to 258 matches in the main force. He was good for 41 goals and 29 assists. In the summer of 2019, Vilhena was sold to FK Krasnodar for 9 million euros.
There he had nine goals and eight assists in 79 games in the past two and a half years. In his first two seasons in Russia, Krasnodar still played in the Champions League and Europa League, but after the disappointing tenth place last season, the club had to do without European football this season.
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