Two Villarreal young talents to leave on loan, Plus Emery talks Pau Torres and Tottenham

According to Javi Mata, Unai Emery announced today that both Manu Morlanes and Fer Niño will be heading out on loan. Both players still have yet to establish themselves as top flight regulars, and hopefully these moves will allow them to do so.

From my perspective, Fer’s loan makes the most sense. We have Dia, Alcacer, and Gerard, and this move seems to tip us off that Paco isn’t actually going anywhere. Fer would be finding himself in a similar situation to what he saw last campaign where he totaled just under 900 minutes between the three competitions. He was remarkably efficient in those appearances, totaling 8 goals on just 13 shots, but the total package of his game was not enough to dissuade the club from replacing Carlos Bacca with another striker of more experience, and so Fer is going elsewhere to find playing time.

Update: Fer Niño is heading to Mallorca, where he’ll be reunited with Take Kubo. The two combined well in the Europa League last campaign.

The Manu Morlanes move surprises me a bit. We already aren’t healthy in central midfield, Coquelin has been subject to some rumors, and Morlanes had a very strong campaign in Segunda last season plus had received minutes during the Super Cup against Chelsea. Him moving on suggests to me that another midfielder might be showing up. I know Iborra is coming back from injury, and he, Capoue, and Coquelin would have the defensive midfield situation sorted, but for me, Morlanes provided a different dimension going forward that could be used to spell Parejo and Trigueros. I personally think Iborra could do some of that job, we’ll see if Emery agrees. For a full scouting report on where Manu’s progress is as a player, check out this scouting report from Charlie Tuley here on the site.

Update: Morlanes is, reportedly, on his way to Espanyol where he should get an excellent opportunity to show he is a La Liga quality player.

Emery also addressed the Pau Torres situation. As everyone knows, the club accepted a bid for Pau that was below his release clause (that bit surprised me a lot). Pau then refused the move, preferring to play the Champions League with his hometown club over going to London and having to move around the backwaters of Europe in the Conference League. Emery confirmed that the club had received a bid, but that he believed Pau would be staying for now. It is no secret that Pau will eventually get a big move that pays him the salary he so richly deserves, but both the club and the player want it to be something that advances his career and sets him up for long term success, and this current Spurs project just isn’t that.

It’ll be an interesting last couple weeks of the transfer window as we wait to see if a new winger and new midfielder show up. Endavant Villarreal!