Spain takes on Turkey today, in a match that could see four Villarreal players start - Capdevila, Senna, and possibly Cazorla for Spain, and Nihat for Turkey. The match will be on GolTV tape delayed at 5pm today for those interested in watching it in the US.
Villarreal's Jose Manuel Llaneza has been meeting with the agent for Douglas Costa, a midfielder/second striker who plays for Gremio in Brazil. Costa is young - only 18 years old - but last year attracted an offer of 9m euros from Real Madrid. Barcelona, Atletico, Sevilla, Inter, and Manchester United have all expressed interest, but it is looking like Villarreal have a good shot at landing him. His exit clause is 24m euros, but Gremio is facing a bit of financial trouble, and it is expected that a 10m euro offer could reel him in. Admittedly, that is a little more than I would expect Villarreal to put out for a single player this summer, but the fact that Llaneza is there suggests that Villarreal must think it is either worth 10m, or that we can get him for a little less.
Looking ahead at Almeria: Villarreal is not sure what players will be available for the Almeria match next weekend. Ibagaza will definitely be out by way of suspension, and Cani is currently facing a right leg muscle strain. Plus, many players are all over the world playing for their countries, and injuries, as well as jet lag, are always troublesome after international breaks. Eguren, Godin, Viera and Mati are not expected back with the team until Friday, April 3, the day before the Almeria match. Villarreal only has 11 players training right now in Vila-Real.