Alemany – maneuvering players like it’s easy

New signings, new departures, and another positive summer, so far for Mateu Alemany. The man has been worth his weight in gold for Los Che since coming on board in 2017. Alemany has moved Vezo, Manu Vallejo, Santi Mina, Murillo, Jorge Saenz, Neto, and Abdennour away from the club, while bringing Jason, Cillessen, Cheryshev, and Max Gomez. Grand total spent: roughly €8.5M.

Note: the above is omitting the €2M Valencia received for Abdennour.

It’s still early in the transfer market with just under two months to go, so I expect more moves to be made – perhaps Rodrigo to Napoli, which is whispered about currently. They’ve low balled Valencia, so far, only offering €35M, but Marca notes a deal may be reached for €60M – €10M below what Valencia want for their 28 year old striker.

Maxi Gomez to be announced any day

What a saga. I’m still not convinced he was the best option for Valencia, but I’ve been wrong a time or two before. I suppose in these instances, we, as fans, need to trust the management and coaches in their evaluations based on the team they’re trying to build. Marcelino has earned my trust, and if Maxi Gomez is his preferred striker, than I’m optimistic.

Certainly, Batshuayi never worked out, nor did Sobrino. He’s made some poor acquisitions or evaluations. Nevertheless, he has a clear objective, and the folks negotiating to get his players need to do the best they can to bring in the talent that fits the system Marcelino wants to develop.

Gomez arrived in Valencia today, after a long, drawn out fight with West Ham.

I’m not certain how much the fight was, as Gomez himself remained in Uruguay during the “battle” and spent time fishing and spending time with family. West Ham offered him a lot of cash, yet he still preferred the move to Valencia to play in Champions League. That’s a great sign of someone who wants to be here.

Like Guedes a year ago, you always want players to want to play for your team. If they’re only there for a paycheck, it probably won’t work out. This is why Rafinha would never have worked at Valencia, he’s proclaimed his loyalty to Barcelona, and would always want to work his way back to their club.