Levante - a Spanish word for a retirement home

Un asilo de ancianos - that's how Spaniards say 'a retirement home'. But...

If you take a closer look at FC Levante's transfer policy ever since 1909, when the club was founded in Valencia, alongside its more famous neighbour - you'll see they were a true retirement home in terms of football. They simple enjoy signing mature players who are over 30 years of age.

Soldado in action for Levante (©Manuel Queimadelos/ Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)

It's been 142 of those so far, with 36-year-old striker Roberto Soldado being the last one on that list. According to Marca, no one is near Levante when it comes to bringing veterans, with Elche (117) and Cadiz (109) being the second and the third, while Barcelona (33) and Real Madrid (30) were left far behind.

The club which trusts those old guys least is none other than Athletic Bilbao - they have brought only four players older than 30 in their 123-years-long history.

Unlike them, Levante were and still are a veteran-friendly side, and Soldado just reminded us of previous high-profile signings for the Valencia-based outfit. In truth, none of them made any significant results with the club, but their names are anything but unimportant for football fans around the world.

They brought the attention of many when a legendary Johan Cruyff adhered to Levante back in 1981. After four years spent in the USA, the 34-year-old Flying Dutchman returned to Europe, but instead of maybe rejoining Barcelona or Ajax, he came to Levante but left the same year after only two matches and two scored goals.

Some years later, Levante signed Predrag Mijatovic, another big European name and the striker who scored the only goal in the 1998 UCL finals, when Real Madrid clinched their first title after 32 years.

Mijatovic, then 34, spent the last two years of his career in the city of Valencia, where he already played between 1993 and 1996, but the tenure with the other Valencia-based team was not as good as the first one.

Three seasons after Mijatovic, Levante pulled of another interesting transfer move when they signed then 32-year-old Damiano Tommasi, a bit underrated Italian midfielder who had as many as ten successful seasons with Roma prior to Levante move.

Tommasi tackles a legendary Raul (©Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

He stayed for two campaigns in Spain, but almost no one will remember him for his Levante days, but for that wonderful partnership with Francesco Totti in Rome.

With The Prince of Rome title already occupied, he had to settle with The King

What's it going to be for once-Spurs Soldado?