Roberto Soldado puts Tottenham nightmare behind him and leads Villarreal to top of La Liga table

Former Spurs striker Roberto Soldado has been tipped to make a stunning return to Spain's national team after he helped lead Villarreal to the top of La Liga, leaving Barcelona and Real Madrid in their dust. Soldado has not featured for Spain since 2013, but newspaper AS has shown that his goal ratio for Vicente Del Bosque's side is better than both Diego Costa's and David Villa's.

Soldado returned to his homeland during the summer transfer window after failing to make the impact expected during his two seasons in the Premier League. Being 30 years old already, many thought that his best days were behind him, but he has rediscovered his scoring touch under Marcelino.

Despite not having a pre-season with Marcelino's side, he scored two goals and made two assists in the opening pair of games for the season, being voted Villarreal player of the month for August by the club's fans.

Following a game on the sidelines, the former Spurs outcast returned to the line-up on Saturday (26 September) to set up the winner for Leo Baptistao in the 1-0 victory over Atletico Madrid, sending his side top of La Liga for the first time in their history.

AS hailed the resurrection of the striker at the Madrigal, tipping him to return to Spain's national side amid Del Bosque's problems with finding a number 9 since Villa and Fernando Torres both suffered losses of form.

The Spanish publication spoke highly of his performance against a top centre-back in the shape of Diego Godin, adding: "He looks like he's back to his best. Even though he hasn't played in the red of Spain since 2013, he is the number 9 with the best strike rate under Del Bosque. He scored 7 goals in 537 minutes, a goal every 76 minutes. Villa scored every 98 minutes and Costa one every 662'"