Villarreal CF Home Shirt 2007/08 – Rio Mavuba – N.24 – Player Issued – Puma – UEFA Cup

Rio Mavuba's Player Issued jersey: Villarreal CF's number 24 in the 2007/08 UEFA Cup season

The first official Villarreal CF jersey for the 2007/2008 season in Player Issued version is a truly rare relic, directly linked to one of the briefest and most intense periods in Rio Mavuba's career. The bright yellow jersey — the iconic color of the Yellow Submarine — was produced by Puma in Spain and features the technical finishes reserved exclusively for team supplies: professional fabric, personalization with the player's number and surname in blue cursive font with a silver outline, typical of Puma kits of the era. The Aeroport Castelló sponsor, with its airplane logo in blue, stands out on the chest. On the left sleeve, the official **UEFA Cup** patch is sewn on — the original logo with the cup on a navy background, still the name used before the adoption of the "UEFA Europa League" brand in 2009 — attesting to Villarreal's European participation that season. In that same tournament, the Yellow Submarine reached the Last 32, where they were eliminated by Zenit Saint Petersburg (the cup winners) on away goals. The back features the number 24 and the surname Mavuba in an orange/blue rounded font, a graphic style characteristic of Puma Villarreal supplies from that period. The size is M, Made in Spain.

The player: Rio Mavuba

Rio Antonio Zoba Mavuba (born March 8, 1984, in international waters) is one of the most distinctive French midfielders of the 2000s and 2010s, with an extraordinary personal story: born on a boat in the open sea during the Angolan civil war, his father Mafuila Mavuba participated in the 1974 World Cup with Zaire. Having grown up in the Bordeaux youth academy, where he made his professional debut, he established himself as one of the best defensive midfielders in Ligue 1 with Bordeaux and then with Lille — a club with which he won Ligue 1 and the Coupe de France in 2011. On July 3, 2007, he signed a five-year, 7 million euro contract with Villarreal CF, one of the most ambitious clubs in Europe during those years. His adaptation to Spanish football was difficult — only 219 minutes in La Liga — and already in January 2008, he moved on loan to Lille, where he would then definitively establish himself. The transfer became permanent in the summer of 2008 for a similar sum. With 11 caps for the French national team, he also participated in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. His number 24 Villarreal jersey is therefore a relic of a very brief period — just six months — in the career of a player who then established himself as one of the best in his role in France.

What is a Player Issued jersey?

A Player Issued jersey is a uniform prepared specifically for a particular player but not necessarily worn in an official match. It differs from the commercial version due to a series of precise technical characteristics: professional finishes, personalization with the player's name and number, match cut and materials, and exclusive technical details reserved for team supplies. It is hierarchically superior to the store version and inferior only to the Match Worn. For collectors, it represents an authentic piece of very high historical and commercial value, often impossible to find on the market years after its production.

Authenticity and MTM guarantee

MTM Memorabilia is the Italian benchmark for demanding collectors of authentic sports memorabilia. Each jersey is selected with rigorous criteria of authenticity, provenance, and quality by our experts. The originality of this item is guaranteed directly by MTM. Each shipment is made with rigid, shockproof, and moisture-proof packaging to ensure maximum protection during transport. Express courier with delivery within 24/72 hours of payment confirmation, both for Italy and abroad.