Arango learns Nothing from Guiza; Mallorca suffers huge loss

By: Jeremy | June 29th, 2009

I am all for a player bettering his career. When he is clearly talented and performs in a way that allows him to cash in or move to a bigger club, I cant complain. This is certainly an expected situation when it comes to Mallorca players and fans suffer every year.

We are constantly having to reshuffle our lineup and take on players that are not quite ready for prime time with a bigger club. This is a risky proposition when it comes to trying to not only survive in LaLiga, but also when trying to become a challenger for the second tier of European football. Occasionally we find a gem and they seem to show their stuff playing for our local club. Between Guiza, Jurado et al, there have been some great players come through our team in the past few years. If we could have kept them, we would have made Europe.

One of the strongest players flying under the radar in world football is Juan Arango, the Venezuelan play maker who has given us five good seasons after we signed him before he really emerged. As he improved and showed how important he is to our run and gun style of play, it was expected that he would move to a bigger club for a nice sum and get to show what he can do on a big stage. After last summers big sell off, I was surprised he returned. Mallorca for life right? Not so.

Arango has finally left us, but not for a bigger Spanish club or even a mid table EPL or Serie A side. He was sold to Borrussia Mochengladbach in Germany for somewhere between 3.5 and 4 mil. Was that all he could bring? Was that the best club he could go to? Quite frankly I am shocked. I cant believe one of those mid table EPL clubs did not grab him, especially for that price.

Now I dont claim to know a lot about German football, but unless you play for Bayern Munich or maybe Stuttgart, how good are you? I know this new club he is going to finished well last year and has a good history, but this isnt the 70s or 80s anymore. The good teams are in Spain, Italy, and England. Unless its Bayern, to go to Germany is a mistake in my opinion. If he thought he was under the radar in Mallorca, he is still under it now.

As you fans may recall, Dani Guiza took the big bucks in Turkey after his Pichichi year in 07-08 for us. While he resurrected his career on the island, I didnt expect him to stay. I figured he would go to a big Spanish club. What was he afraid of? After a bad year in Turkey, he now wants to return to Spain. With his performance, albeit limited, for the national team, he has shown he is a dominant goal scorer and a Spanish club with money should grab him. Depor? Valencia? However, he lost a year in his career and maybe some money too by not going to a big Spanish, Italian, or English club. I guess Arango is following his play. Stupid for the player and stupid for our club.

Mallorca just lost the glue to its team. This is a huge loss on the field and off it because of the little money we got for him. If he had another year left, I would have rather him leave on a free transfer next summer then take the little money we got for him. Arango stalled his career by the move as well. Lunacy all around.

Now we must replace our best player and with the money we got, we will be unable to do so. With Jurado returning to Atletico, we are in real trouble. We need to make some quality signings and fast. I know Manzano is pulling the strings, but without cash, he has nothing to pull. We could soon lose him.

A big thanks to Juan for all he has done for the club, but like Guiza, he is taking a step back in his career. We need to move forward and get some players. I am holding my breath because if nothing is done, we will be a bottom level club next year.

A bad day in Mallorca for the club and another prized player.