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Greetings groguets! A happy solstice to you....some quick Villarreal headlines follow!
Marcos Senna: in an interview published in EPM today, he's clearly disappointed with the club's offer but holds out hope something will be resolved. In the meantime, he's been training in Brazil to stay in shape. Marca reports this Friday Senna and President Roig will both be in Valencia for a charity dinner so expects them to meet, at least informally, and resolve Senna's renewal. We'll see.
Javier Matilla: has been sold to Real Betis for a fee variously described at €1.2 or €1.5 million. Two years ago he looked like a future star, but last year he spent a lot of time in Garrido's doghouse. He really didn't impress last year so maybe a move will help him.
Santi Cazorla: a Malaga fan site suggests he might be interested in moving there, but offers no real evidence. They have already been splashing the cash around--will they be a new force in La Liga? Almost certainly, based on last year's form over the final 10-12 games and their sprending spree since--challenging for a Europa League place certainly looks plausible.
We can't have a news update these days without including Giuseppe Rossi. The Barca deal is dead, Juventus and other Italian clubs haven't contacted either Villarreal or his agent, who now admits perhaps Rossi will remain here another year. Vice-President Llaneza says he'll gladly pop the champagne if that's the case. Yes, we'd like to reinforce the team a bit and expect to, but if we keep our stars we don't need major buys.
EPM points out the transfer market generally has been paralyzed so far this summer.
Another EPM article (I'm not sure who actually performed the study) tries to calculate what players like Rossi are "worth". Excluding the "aliens"(!!) Messi and Ronaldo, they start with a maximum value of €50 million for a 'perfect' player, then calculate values working down from there. They come up with €40.2 million for Rossi versus only about €25 million for Sanchez. Of course, the same study put Bojan's value at €27 million, so the methodology clearly needs some work!!
Finally, another friendly, this one against Wigan Athletic on August 7. A nice coup for Wigan's Spanish coach Roberto Martinez, and only a couple of days after the Everton match.
Incidentally, I'm seeing reports of Villarreal fans (and I assume some Los Che supporters too) planning a Valencian Community doubleheader--apparently Valencia plays a friendly at Anfield on August 4, with Villarreal-Everton on August 5. Any Submarine supporters reading this in England,or indeed fans interested in La Liga generally, should definitely try to make it up for those games, plus the Wigan one.
As many of you know, there are lots of festivals in Spain on and around the solstice, with one of the best known not too far away from Vila-real, the Fogueres de Sant Joan in Alicante. Click here and while away a couple of minutes dreaming of the Spanish sunshine and the upcoming season!!