N’Diaye is apparently staying

EPM is reporting Alfred N’Diaye will receive squad number 24 and will be part of Fran Escriba’s squad this season.

The Senagalese international was, of course, signed prior to Fran Escribá’s taking over as coach, and Marcelino’s experiment to convert him to a center back really didn’t work very well.

But in the middle of the pitch, N’Diaye does give us some bite which we have been missing since Tomas Pina left, and with Cheryshev’s arrival still uncertain, having him available to play enables Escribá to move other midfielders around a bit.

He did play well against Malaga and evidently no one was willing to pay us enough to justify moving him on; loaning him for another year didn’t make sense.

So, he will receive number 24 apparently. We’ll have to see who gets what beyond that.

Srs. Llaneza and Roig have said (again) the Villarreal squad is closed, except if someone wants to come in and pay someone’s release clause, which is pretty unlikely at this point. Interest in Castillejo and Sansone seems to have died off.

La Liga starts tomorrow: Valencia host Las Palmas and Leganés host Alaves. With four Madrid-area teams, evidently it’s been decided that Leganés will play on Fridays a lot (three of the first four matches), though with the other three Madrid clubs away, why they can’t get a better time for their opening match of the season is beyond me.

All of this weekend’s matches will begin with a moment of silence for the victims of the attacks today in Barcelona and Cambrils.