Spanish club Villarreal have preferred to keep mum on persistent transfer rumours linking the Yellow Submarine to the Premiership duo of Peter Crouch and Sol Campbell.

Villarreal have finished second in La Liga this season and have therefore earned an automatic pace in next year’s UEFA Champions League The last time that the Yellow Submarine featured in Europe’s top tier competition, which incidentally was also their first time, was in the 2005-2006 season when they reached the semi-finals of the competition.

And now that Villarreal are back among the Europe’s elite, club president Fernando Roig is in no mood to temper the progress and is ready to import more and better players to strengthen the team and make it more competitive for next season. In the last few weeks Villarreal have been linked with the Premiership duo Sol Cambell and Peter crouch.

Campbell has had a tremendous season with modest side Portsmouth and has been one of the best defenders in the Premiership this season. Crouch on the other hand has failed to sear into the Liverpool starting line-up regularly this season and has been told that he is not wanted at Liverpool anymore and that a good offer would be enough to persuade the Merseyside club to let him go.

Villarreal have made a curious knack of signing players thought to be past their prime and then moulding them into world class performers. But Villarreal general director Jose Manuel Llaneza has refused to name players whom the Yellow Submarine want to take on board for next season and told Sky Sports:

“We are working on some names, but we never disclose details in the press. In a few weeks we want to complete our squad ahead of a big campaign in Europe. This will be our challenge next season.”