Nathan Saliba becomes latest CanMNT player at Villarreal CF - is he ready to make the step up?
The Yellow Submarine’s red takeover has continued this week, as Villarreal CF have brought in a third Canadian to their ranks, signing 22-year-old midfielder Nathan Saliba from Belgian side RSC Anderlecht.
There were 2 at Villarreal. Now we’re 3. 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/gu2C5CqcZb
— Villarreal CF (@VillarrealCF) August 25, 2026
For a team that already had Canadians Tajon Buchanan and Tani Oluwaseyi in their squad, this is great news for Canadian fans who have adopted Villarreal as a team to watch over the last year and a half, as they’ll now be able to keep a closer eye on Saliba going forward.
After a breakout 2026 World Cup with Canada, this is a big move for Saliba, too, who leaves Anderlecht just one year after joining from CF Montréal. Given that he’s leaving to sign for a Villarreal side that is coming off back-to-back top five finishes in La Liga, and are set to participate in the UEFA Champions League for a second straight season, it’s a sign of his progress as a player that a move of this calibre has come about this quickly for him.
Yet, it’s not that surprising to see. When Saliba first made the move to Belgium, it felt like he was making a stepping-stone move at the time - the only question was how long he’d stay at Anderlecht before making the leap to a top-five league.
GOAL 🇨🇦x6
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 18, 2025
NATHAN SALIBA, TAKE A BOW ⭐️
The #CFMTL midfielder, linked to Anderlecht 🇧🇪, scores his first #CanMNT goal to make it 6-0 vs. Honduras 🤯
🔴 Watch Gold Cup on OneSoccer & TSN pic.twitter.com/rV3hdT83tE
With the success of past Canadians in Belgium, such as Buchanan, Jonathan David and Promise David, who all moved on to clubs in the top five European leagues after stints with some of the top clubs in the country, it was expected that Saliba would soon follow in their footsteps (and you can’t forget the impact that loan stints in Belgium have had on the careers of players like Cyle Larin and Luc De Fougerolles, either).
Instead, the bigger shock here is that Saliba’s big move came about this quickly. Buchanan spent parts of three seasons with Club Brugge before joining Italian giants Inter Milan, Jonathan David spent two seasons with KAA Gent before joining Ligue 1 outfit Lille OSC, and Promise David spent two seasons with Union Saint-Gilloise before signing with Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion.
Because of that, it’s a surprise to see Saliba earn this move after just one season with Anderlecht, as most would’ve expected him to stick around for another year or two before making this move.
Clearly, though, that’s a sign of what Villarreal sees in him. Considering that they’re (reportedly) splashing out upwards of 15 million euros on a player who Anderlecht bought for just 2 million euros a year prior, you have to take that as a sign of their confidence in his ability to succeed in Spain.
Nathan Saliba scores a free kick and honours Ismaël Koné following the injury.#FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/OebZlk2Cxm
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 18, 2026
Are there some risks with this move, especially in terms of how Saliba might adapt to his new club? Absolutely.
Before diving into that, however, it’s worth asking the question: why are Villarreal making this move?
Naturally, a big one is Saliba’s standout attributes, which are easy to see when watching him play, which is why he was able to impress on a stage like the World Cup.
Saliba’s a technically gifted player, one who is excellent with both feet, and he’s shown that with his ability to spray passes all over the pitch and score long-range goals. He showcased those skills for Canada, too, scoring a goal and adding an assist at the World Cup - with that goal coming on a beautiful free kick, and the assist coming from a moment of individual brilliance. A.K.A the sort of moments that stick in the memories of viewers, be it fans, scouts or others.
CANADA HAS LIFE! 🇨🇦
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 24, 2026
A FANTASTIC TOUCH FROM NATHAN SALIBA WHO THEN FINDS PROMISE DAVID FOR THE GOAL! #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/QXz87yrrYy
When seeing those skills in action, it’s easy to imagine Saliba being able to make the leap to playing at a higher level, as he has the sort of natural ability that can be hard to teach players.
Of course, though, the technical profile is just one part of the equation. It doesn’t matter if you have the skills if you don’t know how to use them, but to Saliba’s credit, he did a pretty good job of using his skills to his advantage during his time in Belgium, as you can see when looking at his numbers across all competitions last season and this season (since the Belgian league has already been underway for a few weeks now).
On the ball, Saliba’s best work has been with his passing - he’s averaged over 39 passes per 90 at an 80.3% clip, including 3.37 long balls at a 57.4% clip. If you’re to be nitpicky, you could suggest his passing percentage is a bit lower than one would like, which is fair, but that’s also a sign of his desire to play progressively with the ball - he sends over twice as many balls forwards as he does backwards (he’s averaging 13.55 forward passes per 90 and 6.09 backwards passes), as he likes to take risks in possession.
In that context, you can live with his passing percentage numbers, especially when seeing that he has a success rate of 70% with his forward passes. Ultimately, that shows that he’s getting the ball to good areas, which is why he averaged 6.27 passes into the final third at a 72.7% completion rate, and 1.76 passes into the box at a 57.7% completion rate.
Yet, that shows his profile as a midfielder, as he’s usually been more of a ball progressor than a true box-to-box type. At CF Montréal, he played that role in more of a three-man midfield, while at Anderlecht, he operated similarly despite switching to more of a double pivot in their preferred 4-2-3-1 formation.
That’s worth noting, as despite showing good moments in the final third, especially at the World Cup, Saliba is still fleshing out that side of his game. You can see that in his numbers, as he averaged 1.78 shots and 0.57 key passes per game, which is decent (especially in the shooting numbers), but is a bit more timid on that chance-creation side of his game (which is why he’s averaging 0.14 xG per game, but just 0.07 xA).
Ideally, going forward, if he’s to be more of a box-to-box type (which he absolutely has the profile to do), he’ll need to generate shots at a similar rate while improving his chance-creation numbers, and taking higher-quality shots - he’s averaged an xG/shot of 0.08 with Anderlecht, which is not bad for a midfielder, but shows that he’s a bit trigger-happy. 
Here's Saliba's shot map from his time with Anderlecht, showing his affinity with shooting from distance (WyScout)
To that last point, despite taking over half of his 72 shots for Anderlecht outside of the box, none of his goals came from that range, showing why he’d be pushed to shoot closer to goal - while he’s an excellent striker of the ball, one who can absolutely score from distance, the reality is that it’s just not easy to score from distance at the highest level. Although one can appreciate the irony that two of the three goals he’s scored for Canada have come from outside the box, showing that he does have that in his locker (and after all, the suggestion for him is to shoot slightly less often from distance, not to stop shooting from range).
Of course, though, while Saliba will want to improve in the attacking third to become more of a box-to-box threat, how has he done defensively? 
Here's Saliba's heatmap from his time with Anderlecht, showing that he's still developing into a box-to-box midfielder (WyScout)
With Montréal, that was once an area he struggled with mightily, before taking huge strides in that department in the months before leaving - so how has he fared in Belgium?
The answer there, however, is that he’s been pretty good, as he’s averaged 3.94 interceptions, 8.74 recoveries and 7.43 defensive duels (at a 62% clip) - the latter two numbers are quite good, even if the interruptions number is just okay. Those numbers show that he can more than hold his own defensively, which is what you want to see from a budding box-to-box option.
When seeing all of that, however, you can understand why Villarreal would be pushing for his services, as they’ll hope he can develop into that box-to-box player in their system, which asks a lot of their midfielders. They’ll feel that if they can just refine certain aspects of his game, on both sides of the ball, that he has the potential to be a very impactful, all-around midfielder - considering his age, that’s not an unreasonable bet to make.
Plus, it’s worth noting that the numbers mentioned above are from across all competitions, which include some UEFA Europa League and Conference League qualifying games from the past two seasons - when looking at just his Belgian league numbers from last year, Saliba was above average and elite in most categories when it came to his passing, ball progression, final third actions and defensive numbers. 
Here's Saliba's numbers from Jupiler Pro League action in 2025-2026 (WyScout)
Considering that he was on an Anderlecht team that finished fourth, playing his first full season in Europe, those numbers do stand out quite positively within that context.
Now, though, is the time to return to what was mentioned earlier about potential risks with this move. At first glance, there’s a lot to like, right? With Saliba’s age, technical profile and numbers, he’s got the ability to do well in Spain, no doubt.
Yet, there are a few things to watch out for.
Notably, there is his experience. While he now has 50 games for Anderlecht under his belt, to go along with 78 appearances for CF Montréal and 18 caps for Canada, it is a big move to jump to a top five league with just one full European season under your belt - especially when that move is to a club playing in the Champions League with ambitions of finishing top five in their league.
One can only wonder if Saliba could’ve perhaps either benefited from another year with Anderlecht, or made a move to more of a stepping-stone club within the top-five leagues, given that he’s still just 22. In his case, there’s not as much of a rush to make this move compared to if he were 24 or 25.
Otherwise, you have to look at Saliba’s competition to see if he’ll be able to carve out minutes. Villarreal has just four other natural central midfielders listed on their squad, which is good news, but given that they primarily operate in a 4-4-2, that’s no different than if they had six or seven midfielders on a team that used a 4-3-3.
Therefore, while Saliba should be able to earn minutes right away, with Villarreal needing to balance their squad to handle competing in the Champions League, La Liga and Copa Del Rey, it’s not as if Saliba’s going to walk right into the team - at least not right away.
At the same time, that’s not a bad thing. And that’s the flip side of the argument about the risks that come with this move for Saliba.
Ultimately, there will always be risks associated with a move like this, as that’s life when playing in the top five leagues - when you join the top clubs at that level, there is always going to be competition, as it’s never easy to carve out your place.
For a player of Saliba’s calibre, these risks are worth stomaching, as you can imagine him eventually succeeding at a club like this, even if success might not come right away.
And with this not being a World Cup year for Canada, he may as well make this move now and see what happens, as the rewards could far outweigh the risks, even if he doesn’t become a regular until next season, for example. Given the price Villarreal are paying to acquire him, and his age, this is absolutely a move for the future, and must be considered as such.
With that in mind, as a sidenote, let’s hope that it won’t be long before Canadians get the chance to see all of their three Villarreal CanMNT players on the pitch together, allowing them to celebrate just how remarkable that feat is is - a country that recently hardly had any players in the top five leagues just years ago now has a trio of players at a club in one of the top leagues in the world, and at a pretty successful club, to boot.
Between that and other recent moves and developments, such as Promise David’s move to Brighton, Liam Millar’s promotion to the Premier League with Hull City and more, all serve as a reminder of the growth of this Canadian Men’s National Team, one that seems to get stronger with every passing day.
Certainly, if Saliba succeeds at his new club, Canada will benefit massively from this, as there’s a reason why many see Saliba and Ismaël Koné as the future of the Canadian midfield (even if someone like Niko Sigur, who is also rumoured to make a move this window, seems to have something to say about that).
At the end of the day, these transfers are like a domino effect, with Villarreal proving to be a prime example of that, funnily enough. That they first brought in Buchanan on loan before signing him permanently, signed Oluwaseyi, and now signed Saliba shows that they’ve liked what they’ve seen from the Canadian market, so perhaps there’s even a world where we see more Canadians at the club down the line.
To return to Saliba, however, look for him to adapt as quickly as possible, as he shows why this move makes sense for him, continuing his impressive rise as a player.
