UPDATE: Mallorca confirmed the signing of Cyle Larin on Thursday, August 3.

PREVIOUSLY:

Cyle Larin has taken to La Liga like the proverbial duck to water, and he’s sticking around in the Spanish top flight.

Per European transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, Mallorca have won a multi-club race to secure the 28-year-old, who was prolific for relegated Real Valladolid in the second half of last season, racking up eight goals and three assists in 19 appearances, a rate of a goal for every 184 minutes he was on the pitch.

Romano reported on Tuesday that Mallorca have paid €7.5 million ($11 million CAD) upfront for the Canadian men’s national team’s all-time record goalscorer, and that add-ons could take that fee to €8.2 million ($12 million CAD). There had been some suggestion in the Spanish media that Real Valladolid’s firing of their sporting director Fran Sánchez may delay the move, but it has now been completed.

Larin has reportedly signed a contract with the Balearic club which runs for five seasons, until the summer of 2028.

The offer that has been accepted was Mallorca’s third bid for Larin, who scored eight goals and added three assists in just 19 games for relegated Valladolid in the latter half of last season after joining initially on loan from Belgian side Club Brugge, where he had been frozen out of the first-team picture.

Mallorca’s first two bids, an initial offer of €5 million and a second bid of €6 million, were both rejected by Valladolid, who were reportedly looking for around €10 million for their star man. According to various Spanish reports of varying veracity, Larin was also reportedly a target this summer for other La Liga clubs including Valencia, Real Betis, Osasuna, Cádiz, Celta Vigo, and Getafe.

After Valladolid paid just €1.5 million to sign Larin permanently from Brugge after their relegation, they have settled for a figure below that €10 million mark, still a profit of 400 per cent. That is likely a compromise to keep all parties happy, as Larin had reportedly made it clear that he did not want to play in the Segunda División in 2023-24.

Incidentally, there are a couple of fun Canadian connections with Mallorca, who have been part-owned by Canadian NBA Hall of Famer Steve Nash since 2016, when they were a Segunda Division club. The Nash family are massive soccer fans; Steve is also a part-owner of the Vancouver Whitecaps, while his brother Martin is a former Montreal Impact and Whitecaps player who is currently York United’s head coach.

Meanwhile, Scarborough-born Jonathan de Guzman, the younger brother of former Toronto FC and Canada captain Julian, spent his first season in La Liga at Mallorca from 2010-11.

Mallorca have not spent some of their windfall from selling Kang-In Lee for more than €20 million to French champions PSG. They will likely look to pair Larin with Kosovan striker Vedat Muqiri, who scored 15 times in the Spanish top flight last season, a total only beaten by three players in the entire division.

Larin’s transfer should be confirmed imminently. Canadian fans can look forward to watching the Brampton Benzema continue to do his thing in La Liga in the prime of his career. ¡Vamos, Cyle!

How do you think Larin will get on at Mallorca? Will his signing make you want to watch more Spanish football?