Roberto Soldado: The striker was prolific for Valencia, scoring 59 goals in 88 league games

Tottenham have reached an agreement with Villarreal to sell striker Roberto Soldado.

The Spaniard was photographed at Gatwick Airport on Thursday before he set off for talks and Mauricio Pochettino confirmed in his press conference that the striker had been given permission to discuss a return to Spain.

Soldado arrived at Spurs from Valencia in 2013 in a £26 million deal as one of seven new recruits brought in during the same summer that saw the club sell Gareth Bale to Real Madrid for a world record deal.

The 30-year-old had a difficult two seasons at White Hart Lane in which he scored only seven Premier League goals – four of them penalties.

His Spurs team-mate Erik Lamela posted a goodbye message to the striker on Twitter before later deleting the tweet.

The Argentine wrote: “I enjoyed these two years that we share. I wish you well in your new club. Good luck friend.”

The departure of Soldado leaves no senior back-up to striker Harry Kane after Emmanuel Adebayor was told he does not feature in the Pochettino's plans.

Spurs are close to wrapping up a deal for Lyon forward Clinton N'Jie and the Tottenham manager has admitted he is keen to add another forward to his squad before the transfer window closes.