Athletic Bilbao: rumors are linking midfielder/center-back Javi Martinez with a move to Real Madrid and Iker Muniain to Napoli after the Italian club are likely to lose Argentine winger Ezequiel Lavezzi, but while neither is likely it is odd to me that a great midfielder like Martinez is forced to play further back in Bielsa’s scheme than is necessary. He reminds me of a young Gerrard in his capacity to play anywhere on the pitch, and he is surplus in Bielsa’s system? That more than anything makes me wonder how long he stays in either Old or New San Mames. That said, with an escape clause hovering in the high 40's in millions of euros I wonder too if any club will bite. Never haggle with Athletic though, they have rarely put themselves in a position where they need to sell a player. The club are also looking to re-sign former canterano Beñat Etxeberria who currently plays for Real Betis. The transfer would cost 5 million euros.
Atletico de Madrid: is it possible that even after winning the Europa League final against their distant cousins Athletic Bilbao, that Atleti are in danger of losing both the man of the match Radamel Falcao Garcia and goal-scoring midfielder Diego? More than likely actually. Falcao is owned by a third-party investment fund and Diego Ribas is on-loan from Wolfsburg and even their wages are being paid at least in part by others. The new rumor lies in a return of ex-Atleti captain Fernando Torres and 15 million euros for the new European scoring sensation from Colombia.
Barcelona: will the Tito Vilanova reign be any different than Pep Guardiola's Will he have a different feeling than his good friend for p layers that were considered his favorites? Will they be different tactically? What will they buy in the Summer? We will be going more in depth soon enough, but suffice it to say that there will be players like Ibrahim Afellay who will be leaving and players like Bojan Krkic who might be returning. Are we going to see Jordi Alba of Valencia, Neymar from Santos or defender Iñigo Martínez of Real Sociedad?
Espanyol: the first one has fallen. Romaric, who came on-loan from Sevilla in the winter-break, will be returning to los nervionenses. We also found out that Mauricio Pochettino will stay for another year as head of the blanc-i-blau. The club also owe 500,000 euros to Real Madrid for the signing of goalkeeper Kiko Casilla and to settle the debt the club have offered their entire players from the entire cantera at a discount price to settle the debt, players like Javi Márquez, Víctor Ruíz, Dídac Vilá, Jordi Amat, Raúl Baena, Álvaro Vázquez, or Cristian Gómez have been mentioned. The first signing though is left-footed midfielder Sergio Tejera who came up through the ranks, was signed by Chelsea FC and then off-loaded on Real Mallorca where both coaches Laudrup and Caparros used him significantly. He'll cost around a million euros and would bring similar qualities to what Javi Márquez brings. They are also looking for a more physical player to add to the double-pivote role right next to him. They will lose Vazquez so Pochettino is looking to replace him with Levante's 18 goal-scorer Arouna Kone. The new project begins.
Getafe: the club have signed Argentine central-defender David Abraham from FC Basile on a free transfer. He last played in Spain for Gimnastic of Tarragona in 2007 after coming over from Independiente in the Argentine league.
Granada: Guilherme Siquera spent seasons in Italy playing for Inter Milan and Ancona, but just finished his second season playing in Spain for at first Granada in the second division. In helping them stave off relegation, the Brazilian has come under not just Barcelona's eye, but also now as a possible relief for los che if as expected Jordi Alba leaves for FC Barcelona.
Levante: Arouna Kone, who played last year on loan from Sevilla, will now more than likely be ceded directly to Levante on a free-transfer by a curious clause in his contract. If he had met the expectations of scoring 18 goals, his contract would have been renewed. Interestingly, with two games left and stuck on 17 goals, the Ivorian developed a mysterious knee injury and is now set to continue with the Valencian club. Or they can sign and then sell him off to another club.
Malaga: with Malaga securing that last Champions League slot it is highly likely than entering the transfer window with a nice bit of money for luring players, they now will enter with a much larger war-chest. The first name on the list is for unloved Real Madrid center-back Raul Albiol. It will be hard to get him for anything other than an elevated price unless the player campaigns for it. Midfielder Nacho Cases is another player they are looking for. The Sporting Gijon player is good at linking between attack and defense, but he is also in the mix for Deportivo La Coruna and Espanyol. Much easier will be to get Borja Valero from relegated Villarreal if they can meet his price of 10 million euros. That may be doable, the signing of Gozalo Higuain looks less so, not because Pipita won't be sold, he most certainly will be I think, but that he has richer suitors for his signature. Lastly, give it up for Ruud Van Nistelrooj retiring after so many years. Remember, the best strikers never retire they merely go off to stud.
Osasuna: it feels like the end of an era in La Liga. Sure, Guardiola is leaving FC Barcelona, but Osasuna President Patxi Izco is preparing to leave the club after 10 years in charge. The club have rewarded him with a 7th place finish and missing a Europa League slot by one point.
Rayo Vallecano: despite miraculously surviving a relegation battle that stared at them over the better part of a month, Rayo coach Jose Ramon Sandoval will likely be leaving the club over issues involving the President, the board and unpaid bonuses that were guaranteed in his contract and the subsequent very public ordeal that occurred. They are also likely to lose the player described by some as the lungs of Rayo Vallecano, central-defender Javi Fuego, to Granada whose absences in the last few matches had more than a bit to do with the loss of form by the Madrid club.
Real Betis: the cucumbers are looking at UD Las Palmas winger Vitolo who score 9 goals in 30 matches for the islanders. Midfielder Juanma sees an uncertain future. Coach Pepe Mel hasn't counted on him much and will likely look for an exit.
Real Madrid: it is the story of the month. Just as the title celebrations were occurring for los merengues, Gonzalo Higuain was seen getting signatures on his Real Madrid jersey from all of his current team-mates. It looked to some like an extended and inappropriate goodbye. The underpaid Pipita who has a goal-scoring record that rival team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo is not likely to see much of a pay raise. Jose Mourinho and the club have come out to say that the player is not for sale at any price, but if the money is right for Higuain and he is promised a prominent first-team role at let's say PSG, he'll leave Madrid. Wouldn't you if you were the fourth choice striker, first one off the bench?
Racing Santander: besides being relegated, the Cantabrian club are faced with losing players in their descent to the second division with little hope for signing much considering the laughable state of their footballing administration. Midfielder Pape Diop has been offered to Real Betis if their Brazilian midfielder Iriney does not re-sign with the Sevillan club. AC Milan of all clubs are looking also to sign the promise of the Racing cantera, attacking midfielder Victor Badiola.
Real Mallorca: before any decision is made over players entering or exiting Mallorca's squad, the most important decision is securing the services of coach Joaquin Caparros. The Andalusian tactician would be perfect in a return to the Sanchez-Pizjuan for Jose Maria del Nido's club for the club he helped build, and Real Mallorca do not look capable of offering him the improved contract and the increased decision-making powers he wants. His substitute looks to be Manolo Preciado who guided Sporting de Gijon at the beginning of the season. As long as Miguel Angel Lotina stays off the island it'll be a good thing.
Real Sociedad: forward Carlos Vela, on-loan and unloved by Arsenal FC, has been a revelation in La Liga this year especially in the second half when the trident of himself, forward Imanol Agirretxe and French winger Antoine Griezmann ran rampant. Can they sign him permanently? It's not known, but the player would be foolish to return to a club that doesn't want him.
Real Zaragoza: for a club that are supposed to be in administration and remarkably relaxed as a club from an almost catastrophic relegation, the Aragonese club is in the business of signing players. Midfielder Antonio Galdeano (Apoño) who is on-loan from Malaga will likely leave. He has stated that he will not continue if coach Manolo Jimenez signs for another term with the club, and Malaga have no interest, so it is likely that the player will be joining Dnipro who are coached by Juande Ramos.
Sevilla: Joaquin Caparros has been spotted in Seville. He says he won't comment on a post that already has a manager, and that he's there for some sort of charity event, but he has plenty of class and he's not going to state what we already pretty much know, that the club are going to try to re-capture what they had before Juande Ramos left. If any coach can look homeward, this one can. The rumors are kind of crazy: ex-Aguilas de America goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa and the younger Dos Santos, Jonathan is on their radar. Both are long-shots, neither seems the sort of player that Caparros likes, or that Sevilla usually plays with.
Sporting de Gijon: with Carles Puyol injured, some help at the back is possibly coming for FC Barcelona. Sporting central-defender Alberto Botia is likely to return to his former club either directly to help with new coach Tito Vilanova's squad or to be sold onward to Sevilla, Valencia or Malaga who are all interested.
Valencia: it was never certain that Unai Emery would fit in with the high expectations of Los Che and their fussy supporters. Mauricio Pellegrino, who played for the club under former coach Rafa Benitez and had been on his stafs in Liverpool and Inter Milan, has been given a two year contract to succeed the basque tactician who was quickly hired by Spartak Moscow.
Villarreal: when Molina was fired there were rumors that the club were looking into bringing an experienced coach to guide the club through difficult waters (Yellow Submarine-rough waters, sometimes I just amuse myself) and the two names mentioned were Miguel Angel Lotina who was last seen guiding Depor down in 2010-2011 and Real Sociedad in 2006-2007 and Luis Aragones. Think President Fernando Roig would like a second shot at that replacement? Either way it looks like they are going to have to cut costs and Bruno (to Barca or Valencia), Nilmar (to AS Roma or back to Brazil) and Borja Valero ( to Atleti and Malaga) are likely going. Diego Lopez and Marcos Senna are not likely to stay at their age for an uncertain year in Segunda and Cristian Zapata will probably return to Serie A. It does not look good for Villarreal, hopefully their mid-table B-squad can offer up enough replacements to return to the Primera soon enough.
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