Valladolid smitten with Larin
Canadian striker lifts club to brink of survival in Spain’s top league
Summer hasn’t yet rolled in, but things are already steamy in Valladolid. It’s been heading that direction for a while now.
The gateway city to the north of Spain has found itself in a quickburning romance with a newcomer who only landed in town in January, but within days sparked a new phrase in the local dialect — Larinsexual.
This passion play between Cyle Larin and Valladolid went up another notch Tuesday night when the record goal-scorer for the Canadian men’s team created more history, set pulses racing even faster and, more than anything, delivered his most Larinsexual night yet.
Larin became the first Canadian to score against Barcelona and, for good measure, assisted on another in a 3-1 win for Real Valladolid over the recently crowned Spanish champion. Victory edged the club out of the relegation zone in La Liga with just two games remaining, as Valladolid bids to retain its status among Spain’s elite.
The adoration poured down from the pulsating violet-and-whitestriped masses in the stands of Estadio José Zorrilla on Tuesday night and continued on social and more traditional media Wednesday morning. The city is clearly smitten.
“All of the fans of Real Valladolid, they want a lot a Larin,” said Alejandro de Grado, a journalist and broadcaster with Radio Marca Valladolid, the local outpost of the Spanish sports media giant. “(Larinsexual) … it means they are delighted with Larin.”
As far as romances go, this one can be bracketed as unlikely. Larin’s transfer to Belgian giant Club Brugge last summer came on the back of a spectacular run in helping Canada qualify for a first men’s World Cup in a generation. But he found himself unappreciated and mostly unused with Brugge, scoring just a single goal in 13 appearances. The World Cup didn’t go much better, with Larin left out of John Herdman’s XI in the opener against Belgium and hauled off at half time against Croatia.
When European soccer’s winter transfer opened in January, some wondered if Larin would make a return to Major League Soccer, which, at 27 years old, would have marked a significant step back for a player who had won a Turkish title and been a Champions League starter for Turkey’s Besiktas as recently as 2021.
Instead, Spain came calling with a loan switch to Valladolid and the impact was immediate. Languishing in 18th in the 20-team league, the team known as Los Blanquivioletas needed a spark. Larin came in like an inferno. His 90th-minute winner against Valencia had the city’s mayor Oscar Puente hailing the Brampton striker’s arrival, tweeting “Cyle Larin is in da house.” It was also the day that Larinsexual entered the chat.
Things have stayed hot since. Larin has adapted to Spain’s top league spectacularly well. Tuesday’s goal was his eighth, the assist his third, in 17 games. Since he arrived in La Liga, only Atlético Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann and Barcelona talisman Robert Lewandowski have provided more combined goals and assists. Larin sits ahead of Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema in the category. The Canadian is keeping illustrious company.
“He is a spectacular forward,” De Grado said. “I hope that he stays in Valladolid for a long time. He has been key. Incredible. He’s a freak.”
De Grado was working late into the night at Estadio José Zorrilla after Larin and his teammates had helped down Barcelona on Tuesday. His father was waiting outside and, while he may ordinarily have run short on patience, he was happy to wait on this night — because De Grado Sr. got to meet Larin at the exit gates.
By most pundits’ measures, Larin has been the most impactful midseason signing in Spanish football. His movement, work rate, intelligence and finishing have all shone through. He is one goal from making this the second most-prolific season of his six in Europe.
The love it has earned him is both
He is a spectacular forward. I hope that he stays in Valladolid for a long time. He has been key. Incredible. He’s a freak.
very real and very modern. Valladolid fans have meme’d Larin up as an Incredible Hulk, as a gift from Jesus; the club’s official account tweeted out phone wallpapers of him with the caption “Tu padre y el mío” — “Your father and mine.”
It might be hard to requite all of this but Larin is doing his best. He has embraced his place and also his life in the city.
“Since I got to Valladolid, everyone’s been welcoming, and I settled in nicely,” he told MLSSoccer last week. “I knew if I could get minutes and play, I would score goals. They know where I want the ball and how I want the ball.”
As a club, Valladolid have tended to yo-yo between the top flight and Spain’s Segunda División. But having been bought by iconic Brazilian striker Ronaldo in late 2018, they have spent four of his five seasons as majority owner in the upper tier. With one of the sport’s most gifted scorers at the helm, it feels fitting that a striker should both take up so much of Valladolid’s affection and that so much of its fate should fall on his shoulders.
“He came to our team and started to score goals and we are very happy with him,” Ronaldo told TSN recently. “We are fighting to maintain the (La Liga status) of Valladolid this year. I hope he can keep scoring.”
Larin’s prolific form is a boon for country as well as club. With the CONCACAF Nations League and Gold Cup hardware on the line in the coming months, Herdman will welcome a striker in red-hot form back into Canadian colours. Where Larin goes from there remains to be seen. He is under contract as a Brugge player until 2025 but his exploits at Valladolid have won him a host of admirers.
For his part, Ronaldo has insisted that Larin will “of course … continue with us.” For that to happen, Valladolid will first need to survive a nerve-shredding final two rounds of matches with as many as seven teams fighting to avoid the two remaining relegation places.
Pulses aren’t likely to slow down any time soon … but then isn’t that what love affairs are all about?
ALEJANDRO DE GRADO BROADCASTER RADIO MARCA VALLADOLID