Villarreal’s three options as key star suffers season-ending injury

After the serious injury to Coquelin, which is a torn ACL, Villarreal are now dealing with the problem of who will replace him, given he will be out for a minimum of six months.

Given it is a long-term injury, Villarreal can sign a new player, but due to Barcelona’s controversial signing of Martin Braithwaite from Leganés, you can no longer sign a player who is registered with another club, so Villarreal will have to go to the free agent market.

That rule change was expected, as it was pretty unfair. On the free agent market you have some interesting players, like Isco Alarcon. Of course, we can debate if Isco would be the right person to arriveat the club considering the role of Coquelin as well as the profile Isco would bring.

Another player, who covers the position of Coquelin a bit more closely, is Domagoj Bradaric, who last played for Al-Ahli Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, but he has been without a club since September 2022. There’s also another option on the table: Villarreal B.

An internal promotion may be the go-to option for Villarreal, and Ramón Terrats is the prime option. The young midfield arrived on loan from Girona with a buy-out option of 2.5million euros and who has been impressing for the groguet club in his early weeks with the B team.

While he has only recently arrived, it would be a coherent choice considering how Villarreal value their cantera and how motivating it would be for the players to see they are being watched and, if the chance arrives, they could see a promotion to the first team.