Clubs: Real Madrid CF, CA Osasuna (loan), Getafe CF, Valencia CF

UEFA honours
UEFA European Under-19 Championship: winner 2004

• Brought to Madrid by Vicente del Bosque as a 14-year-old in 1999, Soldado spent several seasons gaining a reputation as a prolific goalscorer in the club's youth and B teams.

• Made his Liga debut for Madrid on 23 October 2005 against Valencia, his UEFA Champions League bow having come a month earlier against Olympiacos FC, but failed to establish himself at senior level.

• Spent 2006/07 on loan to Osasuna, where he was the club's top scorer with 11 goals and reached the last four of the UEFA Cup, scoring the winner in the home leg of the semi-final against Sevilla FC.

• A Spanish youth international − and three-goal contributor to the U19 team's European triumph in Switzerland in 2004 − he won two senior caps in June 2007 in UEFA EURO 2008 qualifying matches.

• Returned to Madrid for 2007/08 but remained on the periphery of the first-team squad and was eventually sold to Getafe, where he blossomed during a two-year spell that brought him 29 goals in 60 Liga matches.

• Joined home-town club Valencia in June 2010 for €10m with the onus of replacing David Villa and finished the campaign as the club's 18-goal leading scorer in the Liga.

• Continued his prolific ways in 2011/12, registering a UEFA Champions League hat-trick in a 7-0 triumph over KRC Genk and, on his first Spain appearance since June 2007, a treble after coming on at half-time against Venezuela during a Malaga friendly.