Some New Blood

Give Mallorca credit. When you have multiple players who are clearly heading to bigger clubs, its easy to sit back and wallow in misery about what could have been and not try to bring in some talented replacements. An attitude like that causes such a quick downfall and the next thing you know you are in Segunda B. One reason Mallorca has continued to dodge relegation the past 10 years is that when they lose their good players or have to return players they have on loan, they act quickly to bring in some new players at a reasonable price before other teams grab them allowing the loss of the big names to be dealt with a little easier. Its easy to be a big club and drop loads of cash on the next great player or the established star, but there is a more difficult task, which many smaller clubs like Mallorca face, which is to bring in some new players who are either young and overlooked or not quit established, or some experienced players who either suffered from injury or found themselves not getting regular time with a big club. That is what we have just done with the lastest players we have acquired.

As of this writing, Guiza still has not chosen a club. While we all want him back, reality says Barcelona or Roma will soon have his signature. Jonas is off to New Castle where he will likely thrive, David Navarro has returned to Valencia, Fernando Navarro is off to Sevilla, and surprisingly, although not official, fan favorite Ibagaza might be heading to Villarreal who has made him a substantial offer. I am sure he prefers to stay in Palma, but with the added money and Champions League football, you cant blame him for leaving. He has always flown under the radar and Mallorca has been lucky to have him, but he clearly has the talent to be in the first eleven of a Champions League Spanish side. Lets see what happens, but I know he is having a hard time with the decision. These losses are substantial and even if we do well with some new transfers, we are back to being relegation fodder again.

This why our four latest transfers are some good news and hopefully they will emerge to make up the losses and keep us out of the relgation zone. In addition to the recently signed striker Keita, here is some information on the four additional players who will play for us next year:

Mario Suarez
We now own him fully after getting him from Athletico Madrid. He is a 21 yr old MF who played last year on loan with Celta. He has played in the Spanish under 20 club in the World Cup so he obviously is talented. This is a young player who simply hasnt emerged like Athletico thought so they sold him to us. Maybe he develops later, but 21 is awfully young and if he can make a U20 World Cup Squad, he is worth taking on. Good move to snap up a young player who could still amount to something.

Jurado
Also picked up from Athletico but he is held in a little higher esteem by them as we only get him on loan. He rarely played for them last year, but is a former Real Madrid youth player with loads of talent. With Guiza and maybe Ibagaza gone, he will get a shot to play in an attacking midfielder role and could emerge. More youth for our side and is a perfect fit for this club. We can deal with giving him back to Athletico later. Lets hope he shows the talent he has.

Oscar Diaz
I dont know much about this guy other then he is a 24 yr old midfielder from Elche in Segunda B. It did not cost us anything and I think our scouts just liked him and wanted to see if he could make the move to LaLiga. If he shows something great, if not, no big deal since he was free. Give the club credit for trying to unearth a gem while he is still in expensive.

Josemi
We got him from Villarreal and he is a defender we are looking to use to replace Navarro. The talent is there and he is only 28. He has dealt with some injuries and has played with Liverpool in the Champions League so there is no doubt some real potential that he could add to our back line and make up for the loss of Navarro. We now own him outright and this is a classic example of a big club having too many players and Mallorca grabbing him quickly. He is not of Navarros quality but he could bounce back and bring some real leadership to our club next year. A much needed addition that could pay big dividends.

Whether any of these players make a difference next year is really unknown, but clubs like Mallorca have to rely on big clubs loaning out or selling players who simply arent able to crack their lineup or are still developing. This creates a lot of uncertainty the big clubs dont face. While these additions are good, we still need to add another striker. Knowing we were going to lose so many players, you have to give credit to management for trying to get some new players with talent on a budget.

I will keep watching the transfer window, but the next news is likely some more subtractions and not additions. It will be sad to lose Guiza and Ibagaza, but until they are gone, I will keep some faint hope that they stay.

Category: Mallorca Team News

Tags: Mallorca Team News

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