Help Coming From Madrid

By: Jeremy | August 12th, 2008

For all the uncertainty that comes with the transition of an offseason filled with the loss of major players and the change in ownership, management in Palma has to be commended for continuing to try and improve the team within their budget to make them competitive in LaLiga this year.

While pre season results must be looked at unemotionally, the results this year have been pretty good and we seem to be showing that the talent is there for the team to finish higher then expected despite the losses. Drawing 1-1 against newly promoted EPL club West Brom on the road can only be an indication that we have some strength on this club. With PSV Eindhoven coming to Palma on August 14th, we have another chance to show our stuff against a well known club. Games like these get you match ready for LaLiga.

While preseason has been great, Mallorca is still in need of a couple of players and must straighten out the Moya situation before long. With just under three weeks to go before the season starts, the club is doing its best to resolve these issues. Manzano, again I cannot overstate his importance to this club, seems to be putting the brakes on letting Moya go to Valencia. With the goal always to get local players, letting a young but good and experienced goalkeeper who is from Mallorca move to a big club like Valencia is not something you just automatically do. With all the other good players leaving with little or no fight from the club, Valencia thought they could come in and combined with the players desire to leave, felt like they could grab him with little fan fare. While you certainly dont want Moya around if he is unhappy, the fact Manzano is making an effort to see that he stays shows his importance. I think it is still 50/50 that he stays, but we arent letting him go without a little effort to keep him. Props to the club and lets hope Moya will stay and be happy.

With the Moya situation still an issue, we managed to sign Juan Callejon, from Real Madrid. He is a young striker/attacking midfielder who spent last year playing regularly in Segunda B for RM Castilla, basically where Madrid stashes all its young players who are good, but not quite ready for big club football. This is a great signing for our team as we get another attacking player, who is showing he is ready to emerge and can possibly develop into a star in Palma. Real Madrid is not dumb however and this deal is similar to Samuel Eto’o and his time in Mallorca. Like with Eto’o, Real Madrid is going to keep a percentage ownership in Callejon and if he becomes a star, they will have the option to buy him back or if he is sold elsewhere they will share in the profit. This deal works well for both clubs. We get a talented young player who will be given every chance to develop his talent and if he succeeds, he will enjoy a year or two starring for Mallorca before his inevitable departure. This is how you get young players from the big clubs and we werent the only team who wanted him so even if we lose him eventually, we get to see if the talent is there. From what I have read, he has Cristiano Ronaldo type skill, but needs to work on the intelligence factor of his game. If the skills are there, Manzano will make him smart. For the minimal price we paid, this is a great move and the club should be commended for getting the player. These are the types of players, even if they eventually show they arent that good, that we need to get to stay competitive. The upside is huge and the price is good. Well done management.

As we get closer to the season, the new players combined with the performance of the returning players seem to give some hope to the fans who still are smarting from all the offseason losses. Lets hope this continues and maybe we can land one more player whether it be another veteran striker ie Morientes or a nice defender. A couple of more additions could cause this club to be back in the hunt for Europe which just a month or two ago would have been laughable after all the player losses.

However, for all the optimism, we will be relying on a lot of young players with not much first team football in LaLiga, unproven youngsters, and some veterans with minimal skill who are trying to regain form or return from injury. The potential is there but we will need a surprise player or two for this team to emerge. The potential makes this season more exciting then I thought it would be so I am ready for the season to start.