Villarreal injury update, rumors, etc.

Couple of quick things:

Injury update—Bonera will be out 4 weeks; Dani Raba will hopefully be back to training by the end of this week; Manu Trigueros will begin some training with the group next week.

Rumors—Cheryshev to Everton is still out there.

One surprising rumor that floated on twitter a bit ago was Leander Dendoncker, Belgian international who plays for Andelecht. 23 years old defensive midfielder. Supposedly we would buy him for €18m and sign to a five-year deal, would be a hell of a signing if it happened but i have only seen one tweet about this and they did not give a source. Not terribly likely, let’s say.

Andrade managed to use us to negotiate a move to Boca Juniors and stay in Argentina, so there you go. Opportunity missed or €5m saved, depending on how you look at it.

Villarreal B defeated Jumilla 1-0 in a friendly, with Mukwelle Akale, USA youth international, scoring the only goal. They’ve also beaten Porto’s B side in a friendly this summer, so are looking good as they get ready to start the season the weekend of August 25 at Lleida. And the Villarreal women are preparing for a new season—they have a new coach, a lot of new signings, and are looking to make a push to get promoted.

Interesting article recently in EPM by Sr. Lizarraga about Bruno Soriano’s injury. Or rather, about the fact that we don’t know anything about his injury. It’s been over a year since he stepped on a pitch and the club owes it to their fans, and to Bruno himself, to let us know what is going on. Because we don’t know. Apart from one interview earlier this year where he said he was still suffering a lot of pain after training, we have heard nothing, just seen a few photos of him with other players.

And a couple of stories about ex-Villarreal strikers. A nice interview with Jozy Altidore. He makes some really good points about things he would do differently now compared to when we signed him—I had forgotten he went to the Olympics and that put his progression with the team back from the start (much less his loan to Xerez, who never played him). I was also surprised to learn how much he loves Villarreal to this day. Endavant, indeed!

However, a second story this morning is less cheerful. Nilmar was signed by Villarreal in July 2009 for €16m roughly, moved to Qatar club Al-Rayyan for €10m in summer of 2012 after we were relegated, and I confess I had lost track of him in recent years. Turns out he is currently without a club; he had returned to Brazil but was diagnosed with severe depression in September 2017. He is focusing on his health above all, but is still hopeful of playing again. Villarreal USA wishes him success; mental health issues are not easy.

FINALLY, tomorrow’s friendly against Angers (10AM West Coast time in the US) will be shown on Villarreal TV Live. Presumably without commentary, so if you ever fancied yourself as a play-by-play announcer, here’s your chance!