Salma Paralluelo showed her excitement to be joining Villarreal CF and Playas de Castellón
New Villarreal Women footballer Salma Paralluelo underlined her excitement in her official presentation, which took place this lunchtime at the press room at the Villarreal CF Training Ground. Paralluelo will also compete in athletics with Playas de Casttellón from 1st January 2020. Villarreal CF and Playas de Castellón have a collaboration agreement within the Endavant Esports project. In fact, the presentation ceremony saw the presence of Villarreal CF vice-president José Manuel Llaneza and Toni Escrig, Playas de Castellón president.
“I’m really happy to be here. I want to start this new project with excitement and to show my best. I hope this season is better than last. I’m really happy to be in this team, and also in an idyllic way, being close to my family. I can play football and take part in athletics near my family. It’s the perfect balance,” she commented.
For the teenager from Zaragoza, her two passions are compatible: “Balancing both football and athletics isn’t easy, but when you like something a lot, you do all you can to continue. This year I reckon I can continue like I am. At the moment I’m enjoying the two sports. Why do I have to choose one or the other? At the moment, I’m going to continue with both. I’m communicating with coaches from both sports and if I carry on like that, I can manage things well.”
Regarding her objectives for this season, Paralluelo underlines her ambition: “I would like to get promotion to Primera División, but to do so, there’s a lot of hard work ahead this season. The most important thing is to continue improving.”
Llaneza: “Salma is going to bring a lot of joy to Villarreal, to Playas and to Spain”
Vice-president Llaneza underlined his hopes for a bright future for the youngster, and in turn for Villarreal Women, Playas de Castellón and her country too: “We’ve made a great signing. I believe that she will bring a lot of satisfaction to Villarreal, to Playas de Castellón and to Spain.”
He underlined his happiness: “It’s really satisfying to be able to present someone like Salma. Not every day you present a person at the top of their game in athletics and someone who also plays football. She’s been world champion.”
He welcomed Salma too: “Welcome. We’re happy to have you with us. We hope you’re very happy, because if you’re happy, you’ll give your best and we’ll be very happy.”
Toni Escrig: “Having Salma is a privilege”
Toni Escrig, president of the Playas de Castellón athletics club, highlighted that having Salma in the club will make Playas even more competitive: “Having her is going to be a privilege. She represented her country both indoor and outdoor, being at the top of the rankings for both. For us, it is going to be a privilege to have her and she will be an important person to strengthen us in European women’s competition, both at senior and U20 level.”
To conclude, Escrig also remembered that the track in Castellón seems to be good for Salma: “I want to welcome her to our province. For her I believe that this is one of her favourite tracks, as she got the 300m hurdles record for U16 level here and she also became Spain U18 champion here too.”
