BREAKING NEWS: Paco Alcacer loan move cancelled

In a bizarre twist, Paco Alcacer’s loan to Al Sharjah has been cancelled by the UAE club. This comes as Villarreal were completing the loaning out of Boulaye Dia to Italy and attempting to finalize the arrival of Edison Cavani to replace the outgoing strikers.

Villarreal has stated that Al Sharjah ‘unilaterally’ decided to cancel this move, bizarrely after they had already unveiled the player officially in the UAE. The entire situation makes the transfer situation at Villarreal extremely complicated, as Paco carries a very large salary that would need to be moved in order to bring in Uruguayan star Cavani.

With Dia now loaned out, the true striker options are somewhat thin. Both Gerard Moreno and Jose Luis Morales are winger/striker hybrids, and Nicolas Jackson, Arnaut Danjuma, and Yeremy Pino are not true CFs either. Given Unai Emery’s preference for a 442 during much of his time at Villarreal, the problems are obvious.

It is as yet unclear as to whether Al Sharjah will owe Villarreal some kind of compensation for this move falling through or if there was a clause of some sort that allows them to do this on such abrupt notice. As things stand right now, the once record signing Alcacer is back to being a Villarreal player before ever playing a match for any other club, and there are only a matter of days left in the window to try to find him a new home in order to make room for Cavani.