When Pau Torres smashed his penalty past David de Gea in the Europa League final last May it could have been his last kick for Villarreal. There was interest from a host of Premier League clubs and a Tottenham offer on the table.
He stayed because he is the first top-class player to come out of the tiny town on Spain's east coast and no amount of money was going to deprive him of playing for them in the Champions League.
'It was a dream come true to play in this competition with my boyhood team,' he says ahead of Tuesday evening's visit from Manchester United.
Pau Torres (above) is the first top-class player to come out of the tiny town of Villarreal
No amount of money was going to deprive him of playing for them in the Champions League
Whatever happens on Tuesday night he'll be the first player home after the game. He's not just one of a small group of Villarreal players with a medal, he really is the town's most famous son and while the rest of the squad live in nearby cities or coastal towns he has stayed, even buying a property there.
He set a trend when he rejected the move away because coach Unai Emery stayed too, despite Saudi Arabian money ready to lure him to Newcastle on the day of Villarreal's last group game against Young Boys.
'We were all together in the morning of the match and the story came out,' Torres recalls. 'You always talk about these rumours with team-mates and this one affected us directly. The manager made it very clear to us that the match was all that mattered that night. We're delighted that he stayed: he's our leader.'
That decision to turn down Tottenham last summer and the subsequent Champions League draw set Torres up with a double header against Cristiano Ronaldo.
He's is just one of a small group of Villarreal players with a medal after the Europa League win
Spain defender is Villarreal's most famous son and rejected Tottenham's summer advances
Last month at Old Trafford was the first time he had faced him. He doesn't buy into the idea that at 36 years of age Ronaldo is now just a goal poacher.
'It's true that he had one chance and he put it away, but while people tend to only notice him when he scores, he spends the whole game making movements to get away from defenders.
'When you're moving that much, it's normal that at some point your team-mates will find you. He's there the whole 90 minutes trying to help his team.
'He gets himself into positions to receive the ball, tries to open up lines of passing, tries to escape markers to be ready for crosses. He's always looking to run in behind you or get in front of you.
He has faced Man United's Cristiano Ronaldo and the Portuguese scored a dramatic late winner against Villarreal in September
'The fact that he always seems to deliver, a lot of that is down to his sheer persistence.'
Torres was speaking to Sportsmail before Ole Gunnar
