Andres Fernandez linked with move away from Villarreal

Writing for As, Javi Mata has said that newly promoted Huesca are interested in Andres Fernandez. Frankly when I read this my first thought was “I wish he was the one writing all the transfer rumors about incoming players”. When it comes to Villarreal news, Mata is about as good as it gets, so this story clearly has a lot of momentum.

Fernandez has one year left on his deal at Villarreal and is 33 years old, so there will not be much of a fee involved here. The big question is what do we do for a backup without him? While Fernandez has never had great command over his box, he’s a pretty darn good shot stopper.

We all hope that Asenjo has put his injuries woes behind him for good, but with multiple cup competitions next season, we’ll need a backup goalkeeper. If Fernandez would be content playing in the Copa, Europa group stages, and the occasional La Liga match I’d really prefer he stay aboard. If not, that’s just one more hole we would have to fill in the roster, especially since Mariano Barbosa also just departed the club.

Goalkeepers are generally inexpensive, but even cheap transfer take time and manpower to get over the line. With a short off season and other major needs in the squad (like defensive midfielder and CB) Villarreal would very clearly be better off if they could keep him. In the meantime, we are putting a lot of faith in the fitness of Sergio Asenjo.