Spain's stars are leaving the sunshine behind - The National

Spain's stars are leaving the sunshine behind - The National: "Spanish international sipping mineral water in a restaurant on Manchester's Deansgate explained his reasons for joining Manchester City.

'The English Premier League is very attractive to every footballer in the world,' said Albert Riera, who enjoyed going virtually unrecognised in one of the busiest places in the city.

'The clubs are very professional, too. There are some in Spain where you don't get paid on time. Here, that's never an issue. The clubs also help you adapt. I'm learning England and enjoying my career which has taken me to a new country.'

Riera moved on to Liverpool and he now plays in Athens for Olympiakos, a new breed of nomadic Spanish footballer who earns his living far from his homeland.

Spanish footballers have not always travelled well. The experience of Fernando Morientes in Liverpool after signing from Real Madrid was a chastening one, while the sojourns of internationals Asier del Horno at Chelsea and Javier de Pedro at Blackburn in the middle of the last decade were brief and unsuccessful.

Cultural differences were often blamed. In 1996, Jordi Cruyff, the Dutch winger who grew up in Catalonia, left Barcelona for Manchester United."

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