Villarreal have announced the squad for the Zaragoza match in the City of Tereul Trophy II, scheduled for tomorrow at 7:30pm (1:30pm eastern):
Goalkeepers: Diego López and Sebastián Viera.
Defenders: Javi Venta, Gonzalo, Godin, Ángel, Cygan and Fuentes.
Midfielders: Pires, Edmilson, Eguren, Cani, Ibagaza, Mati Fernández, Bruno and Jordi Pablo.
Strikers: Guille Franco, Llorente and Joan Tomás.
I would really like to see Mati get a start in this match. It is an ideal opportunity to see him in a starting role, and to give Pires a break, especially coming off only two days rest between matches. And it would also be good to see how Ibagaza starts a match in the supporting striker position, lined up behind Guille or Llorente.
There are rumored comings and goings with the club, one that would be great, the other that would be terrible. In the good news, Luis Arogones has requested Josico's services at Fenerbahçe. It seems like such a deal would work out for all sides - Fenerbahçe could offer him a 1+1 contract, where he could earn an extra year, and the Turkish team plays in the Champions League (assuming they make it past the second leg of the qualifier, in which they currently lead 2-0). For Villarreal, the club will not have to experience the awkwardness of the long-serving captain spending the entire year on the bench.
The disturbing rumor has Roma making a bid for Santi Cazorla. So far, Roma has not put anything higher than 15m euros on the table - it would take at least 18 to pry him away. Surely this stomach-churning rumor will not become a reality? He seems to love Villarreal - and I think 18m euros is selling him way short - he is going to be a superstar in a couple of years.
Villarreal have also been linked to Alexis Sánchez, who plays for Udinese. I do not know anything about the potential deal, though.
In good news, Villarreal expects the stadium renovations to be completed before the first home match of the season. Even with the addition, every match is only going to leave about 5,000 available tickets - including tickets for the visitors - as Villarreal have sold over 19,000 season tickets, and are headed towards the 20,000 mark. Villarreal's biggest season ever will be a tough ticket to come by! (Hopefully, the stadium will not run out of refreshments with all of the new fans squeezed in!)