Villarreal players had their last training session/kickaround today prior to departing for their summer break—that is slightly over a month long. Villarreal announced the players will return July 6 for medicals and so forth, with training starting on July 10. Fran Escribá hopes this preseason will have much less drama than last year, I am sure.
Since Villarreal do not have to play in a qualifying round of the Europa League, their first competitive match (assuming the Spanish federation accepts the proposed season start, will be August 19 or 20. Sr. Roig has asked that Villarreal play that first match away in order to give time for further remodeling of the Ceramica Stadium to be completed. This summer, in addition to removing the grass and planting new (that’s already happened), work is being done on the VIP and company boxes, the press boxes, and the tribuna, in addition to work adjacent to the ground.
Mateo Musacchio’s departure should be made official after the last Serie A matches this weekend, and as reported earlier, Villarreal B will have a new coach next season as Paco López announced his departure after two seasons. It’s expected Javi Calleja will replace him, but no announcement yet (Javi is coaching the Juvenil club that’s in the semifinals of their Copa del Rey competition, playing this week).