Five La Liga stars who might be on the move
A lot of people who just dabble on Football Index only really follow the game closely in England. Whilst they’ll be well aware of some players from Spain there will be numerous players who simply go under the radar. Here we give you some Football Index tips in the shape of five La Liga stars who could be on the move in the upcoming transfer window.
To keep things interesting, we’ve deliberately left Chimy Avila off this list. Read about the Osasuna man here. Here goes our five.
Number 5. Raul de Tomas, £0.69
De Tomas is a funny one. He scored a lot of goals whilst on loan with Rayo Vallecano (38 in 66) in the second tier but a move to Benfica never worked out. The former Real Madrid man only playing for around 1,000 minutes. He’d tell you that he wasn’t given a fair chance to do what he does, which is score goals and he’s proving capable at relegation threatened Espanyol with five in seven since his move in January. It remains to be seen if Espanyol will fall out of La Liga but regardless of their status, de Tomas will be the subject of much speculation.
Number 4. Yeray Alvarez, £0.33
It’s widely reported that Athletic Bilbao centre half Alvarez is one of Mikel Arteta’s main targets for the summer. You can understand why. Yeray, as he’s usually referred to, has been a near ever present – when fit – at the heart of Bilbao’s defence with his positional sense and aerial prowess making him a tough man to get the better of. On top of that, his character and hunger to win are unquestionable – two qualities the Gunners have severely lacked for a long time.
Number 3. Marc Cucurella, £1.31
The curious case of Cucurella looks set to continue in the summer. The left back was with Barcelona as a youth but was loaned and subsequently sold to Eibar. Just over two weeks later Barca opted to bring him back to Nou Camp through their buy back clause. Then immediately loaned him to Getafe. With Jose Bordalas’ men he’s continued to show huge promise at full back with his left foot proving a real asset in attack. Getafe have an option, which they’ve exercised, to sign Cucurella for £5m but it seems they’ll quickly be forced to sell him – albeit for five times the amount – due to a pre-agreed release clause. Chelsea and Napoli wait in the wings.
Number 2. Federico Valverde, £1.63
21 year old Valverde has been with Real Madrid since moving from his native Uruguay back in 2016 but it’s only the last two seasons where he’s started to breakthrough. The centre midfielder has the potential to be one of the best in the world – Zinedine Zidane should know – but despite featuring regularly this season his time on the pitch has been broken with under an hour of action per game on average. Manchester United are reportedly interested. Whilst it seems a long shot on United’s part, it might force Zidane into giving him more minutes. Either way, it’s good news for Valverde’s price.
Number 1. Saul Niguez, £1.42
There is growing noise that Saul ranks very close to the top of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s shopping list. The Manchester United boss is keen to supercharge his midfield. Atletico’s 25 year old certainly fits the bill. He’s more defensive minded than Bruno Fernandes with the ability to snuff out danger and on the ball he can play every sort of pass you can think of and rarely loses possession. The stumbling block to a potential move could be a combination of his long term deal, which runs until 2026, what happens with midfield partner Thomas Partey and Atletico’s asking price – rumoured to be £135m. Whether he spends another year in La Liga or ends up in England it’s safe to say he’ll have a big influence on the next campaign.
There you have it, five La Liga stars who could be wearing new colours when the 2020/21 season gets underway.