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Javi Mata has really piqued my interest this morning. saying that with Mario’s injury and Kubo’s departure, Villarreal is in the market for a right sided player similar to Pedraza, who can play multiple positions.
El @VillarrealCF estaria buscant un jugador de banda dreta que puga jugar tant de lateral com mes avançat, un perfil Alfonso Pedraza. És una opció en la que se treballa, vorem si es factible i el mercat ofereix opcions per a poder fer-ho.
— Javi Mata (@javimatagil) January 15, 2021
No names were put into the report, and we will keep a close eye on that going forward, but here are a few suggestions from me that may be good fits:
Alvaro Odriozola
The exiled Real Madrid right back needs a change of scenery, and on his day is absolute dynamite going forward. This would probably be a loan to buy option deal if it happened. The biggest question mark of course would be whether Villarreal’s relationship with Madrid has been too badly deteriorated from the Kubo affair or not. Given how out of the picture Odriozola is, that might not matter.
Jonjoe Kenny
After a strong season in the Bundesliga, Kenny looked ready to come back to Everton and begin the process of taking over the reigns from Seamus Coleman at right back. It hasn’t worked out that way. The 23 year old has only seen 79 minutes in Premier League action this season. The big question here would be cultural adjustment. No one else on the roster speaks English as their primary language, and Jonjoe probably doesn’t know much Spanish.
Dijibril Sidibe
The Monaco man hasn’t really found consistent playing time this season, but has shown a lot of positional versatility over the years. Again, the question here is language barrier, but Monaco has loaned him out before and may be willing to do so again.
Javier Manquillo
The Atletico Madrid product has been in England for some time, playing for Liverpool, Sunderland, and now Newcastle. He’s having trouble finding match time, but he could be a bargain bin option to take a look at. He knows the language, and he probably wouldn’t cause too many waves if he were relegated to squad duty once our other options were healthy.
Conclusions
Honestly, I have no idea what we are going to do here. I would have thought we were done in the January window, but clearly the ambition of Emery’s project is pushing the club to fill every hole possible as we chase a trophy this season.