Another summer of change on the horizon for Villarreal

Villarreal may not NEED to be a selling club—a balanced budget, no external debt, and moneys from the Europa League—but as we approach the midway point of this international break, the rumor mill has started to get into full swing, and there are plenty of rumors floating around abut Villarreal players.

The Mateo Musacchio situation is pretty much the same as it was last summer: Musacchio does not want to sign a contract extension with Villarreal (his contract ends in June 2018), but the club that most wants him, AC Milan, has no money, and the takeover of the club by Chinese interests is no closer to happening now than it was nine months ago.

Today there are rumors (from Italy, naturally) that the negotiations surrounding a deal have already been done; Musacchio would move to Milan for €18m and will earn €3m a year there. All that’s missing is the money. Latest word is the Milan sale is going to close on April 14—really.

Meanwhile, Cedric Bakambu’s name has come up as a potential replacement for Romelu Lukaku at Everton, though Besiktas have also been mentioned as a potential suitor. (The fact Besiktas will be in the Champions League, and Bakambu has played in Turkey previously, might give them an edge). Villarreal won’t want to sell, but €25m for a player we bought for €7.5m could be hard to turn down.

And Samu Castillejo is apparently attracting interest from Napoli—€20m worth of interest, if this report is to be believed. I don’t.