Roberto Soldado Rillo (born 27 May 1985) is a Spanish footballer who plays for Valencia CF as a striker.

Real Madrid

Born in Valencia, Soldado joined Real Madrid at the age of 15 from local small club CF Don Bosco. On 24 July 2006, Soldado officially became the first member of Real Madrid to leave under new manager Fabio Capello and new president Ramón Calderón, moving to fellow La Liga club Osasuna on a season-long loan.

Soldado returned to Real Madrid where, on 11 July 2007, he renewed his contract with the team until 30 June 2012. In a 21 July interview with Spanish newspaper Diario AS, he revealed that he would be wearing number 9 shirt in his second stint: "During the preseason I'll be number 9, the number I've always dreamed of. When I step onto the pitch at the Bernabéu I'll remember all the hard work it took to get here". However, he would finish the season with just five league appearances (one start, at Deportivo de La Coruña), the second with fewer minutes for the league champions.

Getafe

In late July 2008 Soldado was sold to Getafe CF for €6 million, signing a four-year deal with the side from the Madrid outskirts, like former Real midfielder Esteban Granero the previous week. On 25 January 2009 Soldado netted a hat-trick as an early substitute, in a 5–1 home win against Sporting de Gijón. Soldado started 2009–10 in impressive fashion, scoring three past Racing Santander in a 4–1 away win. After a long scoring drought, he added three more against newly-promoted Xerez CD, in a 5–1 home triumph.

On 19 December 2009, Soldado took his league tally to ten after scoring twice in a 2–1 win at Sevilla FC – with this achievement, he became Getafe's best ever scorer in the first division, surpassing Manu del Moral and Daniel Güiza; he missed one month of competition due to injury but, in his return to action, scored from a bicycle kick, earning his side a point in the 1–1 home draw against Gijón.

Valencia

In early June 2010, after a successful year at Getafe – 16 league goals, and the club qualified for the UEFA Europa League – Soldado returned to his hometown and signed for Valencia for €10 million, replacing FC Barcelona-bound David Villa. In his first official game, on 14 September, for the Champions League group stage, he contributed one goal in the Che's 4–0 win at Bursaspor; when the two teams met at the Mestalla Stadium in November, he netted two more, in a 6–1 success.

On 2 April 2011, Soldado scored all of Valencia's goals in a 4–2 away win against former club Getafe. In the next fixture, a local derby against Villarreal CF, he netted two more in a 5–0 home thrashing, and finished the season as joint-fourth top scorer as his team ranked third and qualified to the Champions League.

In the first game of the 2011–12 season (second round), Soldado scored four goals against Racing Santander – one in his own net – in an eventual 4–3 home win. His last two goals arrived in the final three minutes. In late November 2011, in two home games separated by only five days, he added five more: two in a 2–3 home loss against Real Madrid and three in a 7–0 routing of K.R.C. Genk for the Champions League group stage.

Soldado took his league tally to 15 (and 25 for the campaign) on 18 March 2012, scoring all three of his team's goals in a 3–0 win at Bilbao. In late June, he extended his contract until 2017.

On 23 October 2012 Soldado scored a hat-trick against FC BATE Borisov, in a 3–0 success for the Champions League group stage in Minsk. Soldado hit a stunning opening goal, volleying a long pass from Adil Rami, helping Valencia defeat Atlético Madrid 2-0 on 3 November, inflicting on them their first defeat of the season.