Raúl to Villarreal? That's the rumor...plus lots more news!

   Late last night Javi Mata retweeted a report that veteran striker Raúl González would be leaving Schalke 04 (his contract cancelled, so presumably he would be a free agent and not subject to the transfer window) to join Villarreal.  Seems a little odd to everyone, but now it's being picked up by some other media.  Would be quite a stealth signing, wouldn't it?

   Hernán Perez injured: News on twitter this morning via Radio Vila-real's Monica (Benavent) that Hernan Perez was injured in Paraguay's 3-0 victory against Honduras in a friendly last night, but no word yet on exactly what or how serious.  Not good news.

  Major problems in sports publishing: the excellent Don Balón, a feature on Spanish kiosks for 3 years and sponsors of various La Liga awards, will not appear this week and is unlikely to again.  Apparently in addition to economic problems, the editor has been accused of embezzlement.  And the similarly excellent Calcio Italia is gone also--problems with its contract publisher in the UK apparently.

  The meeting of the '18' will go ahead, though Levante, Sporting, Mallorca, Getafe, and Real Sociedad will not attend.  Pressure put on from the big two probably accounts for all except Mallorca, who won't want to be seen agreeing with Sr. Roig about anything; first four are no surprise but Sociedad was one of the "G-6" so surprising they won't be there.  Atletico madrid apparently will, which is a shock. Meanwhile, supporters are planning on showing their support for the Sevilla-Villarreal led group at their match in  El Madrigal.

Joan Capdevila is miserable in Benfica, having been left off the Champions League roster, and according to his agent could move to Juventus or Napoli in January.

And finally, while we still don't have a shirt sponsor, we do have a new, larger sponsorship agreement with the Mahou brewery.  No details on what exactly this entails or how much money.