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The Turkish national team and striker Nihatas will represent another Primera Division team next season. This was officially announced by club officials today.
As reported, the striker has signed a long-term five-year contract with the team. Earlier, the player was linked to Moscow's "Spartak" club and during the winter transfer window there were even reports that the player had already signed a contract with the Russian team, but later these rumors were denied.
Since arriving from "Besiktas" to Spain in 2002, Nihatas has scored a total of 58 goals in the "Real Sociedad" squad and is one of the team's leaders. However, the player missed the second half of this season due to a cruciate ligament injury in his left knee.
Nihatas was one of the leaders of "Real Sociedad" in the incredibly successful 2002/2003 season, when the Basque club finished second, behind only "Real". That season, Nihatas, forming an excellent duo with Serbian Darko Kovačević, scored 23 goals.
This season has been much worse for the Basque club, barely avoiding relegation to the second division of Spanish football and finishing in just 17th place in the final championship standings. Meanwhile, "Villarreal", debuting in the UEFA Champions League this season, surprisingly made it to the semi-finals of the tournament, where they were defeated by the footballers of London's "Arsenal" after a fierce battle. However, in the "La Liga" championships, "Villarreal" finished in just 7th place and will compete in the Intertoto Cup next year.
