Tajon Buchanan’s return to Villarreal a perfect move for CanMNT winger amid 2025 resurgence
After weeks of negotiations, Tajon Buchanan is heading back to Spain, as he re-joined La Liga side Villarreal on a permanent deal after spending the end of the 2024-2025 campaign on loan with the ‘Yellow Submarine’ from Inter Milan.
Having originally been unwilling to exercise the purchase option that was included on Buchanan’s loan, Villarreal did well to sit down to negotiate a new deal with Inter, setting the table for Buchanan to return to a club that treated him very well during his short stint in Spain.
El Villarreal y el @Inter han alcanzado un acuerdo de traspaso por Tajon Buchanan, que firma con la entidad amarilla hasta el año 2030.
— Villarreal CF (@VillarrealCF) July 29, 2025
Benvingut, Tajon 💛! pic.twitter.com/5zxt77MUQ8
It marks the end of a bittersweet chapter for Buchanan, as he’ll feel he never got to truly show his level with the Italian giants, but he’ll leave with pride, given how big a deal it was for him to make that move, one that not many Canadians have been able to make in the past.
Plus, it’s not as if he’s heading to a bad landing spot, either - Villarreal have finished in the top eight in La Liga in every season except one since 2012-2013, and are about to compete in the Champions League for the first time since reaching the semi-finals of the 2021-2022 edition.
Because of that, it’s important to highlight how big a move this is for Buchanan, who is heading to Villarreal for a bigger fee than the one Inter paid, which was around 7 million euros, with the Spanish club bringing him in for around 9 million euros on a five-year deal. 
While there haven’t been many Canadians to play at clubs the size of Inter, who are a footballing giant most would rank among the top 10 or 15 teams in the world, there haven’t been many Canadians to play at clubs the size of Villarreal, either. Certainly, among those who have, most didn’t command a fee like Buchanan’s.
What this shows, however, is the continued growth of the CanMNT, as a transfer like this would’ve felt like a massive deal for a Canadian to make just years ago - now, it comes with a lot less fanfare than one would expect from the news of a key Canadian regular joining a Champions League club permanently.
GOAL 🇨🇦🇨🇦
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 25, 2025
It's a second quick goal for the #CanMNT as Tajon Buchanan doubles the lead moments after the opener 🔥
🔴 Watch LIVE on OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/YwZaZW6AN8
Yet, this is also a reminder of Buchanan’s level - while he was unable to stick it out at Inter Milan, this is still someone who did quite well with Club Brugge in Belgium, making 67 appearances at the club across two years, including six appearances in the Champions League.
Given the level he showed at Brugge, he was always going to earn a step up down the road, and Villarreal still represents that as a perennial top-five team in a top-five league, even if it came a year and a half after he departed from Brugge.
Plus, at Villarreal, he’ll get to do something that he didn’t even get to do at Brugge - play as a winger again. That’s huge news, because Buchanan was pushed to become more of a full back at Brugge after coming from the New England Revolution as more of a winger.
While he developed into a solid defender in Belgium, which earned him the move to Inter as a wing back, Buchanan is a winger at heart. He showed that at Villarreal, where he had a goal and two assists in 412 minutes, and continued that form with Canada this summer, scoring four goals and adding one assist in six appearances across friendlies and the 2025 Gold Cup.
¡Sabemos de lo que eres capaz, Tajon! Es momento de volver a brillar sobre el campo como groguet 👊 pic.twitter.com/l4LStElb90
— Villarreal CF (@VillarrealCF) July 29, 2025
At his best, Buchanan loves to get on the ball and run at defenders, helping him get to the final third, where he can both score and create chances.
To that point, consider this - in the minutes he’s earned across the last year, (according to FBRef, 511 of them), he ranks in the 99th percentile in progressive carries and successful take-ons among midfielders (which he’s listed among due to his play as a wing back with Inter and as a wide midfielder for Villarreal).
Certainly, his raw numbers stand out from his short stint in Spain - in the 412 minutes he played with the ‘Yellow Submarine’, he averaged 5.69 dribbles (at a 54.8% clip), 2.76 progressive runs, 2.94 touches in the box and 3.12 fouls won per 90, showing his ability to get to dangerous areas via his dribbling, which caused a LOT of problems for defenders (as seen here).
GOAL 🇨🇦🇨🇦
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 7, 2025
TAJON TO J. DAVID AGAIN 🤯
Buchanan's ice-cold first touch sets up a cross for an even colder glancing header by Jonathan David and the #CanMNT go up 2-0 over Ukraine 🇺🇦
🔴 Watch LIVE on OneSoccer & TSN pic.twitter.com/9sNH2Y4NAy
That’s huge, as it’s a sign that he regained his confidence after the struggles of his Inter stint, which saw him play a lot safer given the competition at the club and the wing back role he was deployed in, and that’s he’s also fully recovered from the leg injury he sustained at the 2024 Copa América. 
Buchanan's radar from his time with Villarreal - as seen here, his dribbling numbers were strong, but he had some surprisingly good output in terms of chance creation/final actions (WyScout)
Otherwise, he was solid in other offensive categories with Villarreal, generating 1.29 shots, 0.73 key passes, 3.67 crosses (at a 25% clip) and 2.76 passes to the box per 90, which is not bad given that he was a new player dropped into a team fighting to reach the Champions League.
What that last section shows, however, is Buchanan’s big goal at Villarreal - to generate more end product, as that output is solid but unspectacular. His dribbling numbers were elite, but he wasn’t as involved in the final act, which fell on the shoulders of players like Ayoze Pérez (22 goals and 4 assists in all competitions), Thierno Barry (11 goals and 4 assists), Alex Baena (7 goals and 10 assists), and Yéremy Pino (four goals and 10 assists).
With the departures of Baena to Atlético Madrid and Barry to Everton, however, Villarreal will need help up front as they look to replicate their offensive output from the 2024-2025 campaign, which saw them finish third in La Liga in goals for with 71. That’s where Buchanan can step up, however, which he started to do at the end of 2024-2025, scoring and assisting in his two final games before the loan expired (including a goal vs. La Liga winners Barcelona).
It’s a big ask for a player whose best season in Europe was a one-goal, six-assist showing for Brugge in 2022-2023, but that’s where the shift from full back/wing back to winger will be key for Buchanan. Back when he was in MLS, where he was more of a winger with the New England Revolution, he had nine goals and six assists in his final season (2021) before leaving for Brugge, which shows what he can do in more of a regular advanced role, one that he hasn’t gotten to reassume since.
GOAL 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 18, 2025
TAJON MAKES IT 3️⃣
It's 3-0 for the #CanMNT vs. Honduras as Tajon Buchanan finishes off pass across goal with his first touch 💪
🔴 Watch Gold Cup on OneSoccer & TSN pic.twitter.com/sOEpSYF4S5
Because of that, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to suggest Buchanan will want to aim for at least five goals and five assists with Villarreal this campaign, at least as a low-end goal, with the higher-end goal being to push closer to double-digits in each category.
Given that he’ll grab a starting spot on day one after Baena’s departure, already having nabbed four starts on his loan, that’ll also help him be more involved offensively. To do that, he’ll want to generate more than the 0.1 xG and 0.1 xA he generated per 90 with Villarreal, but a return to something closer to that 0.27 xG and 0.16 xA he had in his last season with the Revolution would help him massively.
Yet, that shows the challenge for Buchanan. There’s no doubt that he’ll be impactful with Villarreal - his dribbling will add a different element to their attack, and he’s defensively responsible enough to be trusted in bigger matches (he contested 21.49 duels, made 4.41 recoveries and had 2.21 interceptions per 90 with Villarreal), but he’ll want to also be a key part of their attack, too.
Because of that, it’ll be expected that he’s given more of an aggressive role, with his coach, Marcelino, likely challenging him to take his dribbling ability and use it to get into the final third and box with the goal of creating more final actions. 
That’s the bet Villarreal are making with this move, however - they feel a shift back to more of a true winger position will push him closer to the numbers he had with the New England Revolution as an attacker compared to what he generated with Brugge and Inter, and Villarreal feel that what he showed on loan with them and with Canada this summer is a sign of that being a very real possibility.
If they prove to be right, that’s good news for Canada, who only stands to benefit from having an in-form Buchanan in their ranks. On his day, he is one of Canada’s most important players, one in the same category with Jonathan David, Alphonso Davies, Moïse Bombito and Stephen Eustáuio, as he can win games on his own.
GOAL 🇨🇦
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) June 7, 2025
JONATHAN DAVID opens the scoring, rounding off a bit of brilliance by Tajon Buchanan ✨#CanMNT go up 1-0 over Ukraine early in this one 😎
🔴 Watch LIVE on OneSoccer & TSN pic.twitter.com/WcDw6KQKKH
Those sorts of players are hard to come by, so look for Buchanan to show that while this move hasn’t come with the sort of fanfare many would expect, it’s still a massive opportunity to show what he’s capable of on a big stage.
From there, he’ll want to bring some of his swagger to Canada ahead of the 2026 World Cup, where he’ll want to shine after arguably being Canada’s best player at the 2022 World Cup, which earned him that Inter move down the road. 
This move has the potential to push him to another level for Canada, as this summer showed, so now the onus will be on him to make the most of the opportunity that lies ahead of him going forward with his new club.
Fittingly, when it’s said that he’s in the same category as David, Davies, Bombito and Eustáquio for Canada, it says a lot that he’s remained at a Champions League-level club, much like his peers. All of a sudden, between them, as well as Alistair Johnston and Derek Cornelius, that’s just further increased the number of Canadians about to play big roles on teams in the Champions League and Europa League, and that’s no small feat.
Now, all that’s left is for Buchanan to prove why Villarreal invested in bringing him back in, as he tackles a crucial stretch of his career at the still-young age of 26, with plenty of prime years still ahead of him - hopefully now as a winger again.
