Inside Spain is a weekly segment brought to you by Football España, offering an insight into all the key stories emerging from the rich and intense atmosphere in La Liga and beyond.
As New Year's resolutions approach, clubs are also hoping to sort out their transfer plans for the upcoming winter and summer markets. While it doesn't look like there will be much action in January on the Spanish side, there is action coming in the summer.
Real Madrid, despite their major injury crisis at centre-back, are said to have changed their transfer plans, and are no longer actively searching for a central defender. Their priorities are a central midfielder and a right-back Both cases are bad news for Liverpool.
River Plate star Franco Mastantuono was linked with moves to Manchester United and Manchester City (as well as Barcelona) earlier this year, but less than six months ago, it looked like he was on his way to Real Madrid. But Los Blancos have it now He dropped out of this race And also open the door for someone else.
“Vinicius suffers from racism in Spain, but how many people say that this is Vinicius's fault? Can you imagine that? A young man suffers from racism and we say that his behavior encourages racism… It is unbelievable.”
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– Spanish Football (@footballespana_) December 26, 2024
Barcelona have no plans to walk through this open door, but they have enough to deal with on their own. In February, they are scheduled to discuss Robert Lewandowski's future with him, and in the summer, the board of directors asked sporting director Deco to bring in €80 million in sales. No small task.
However, there is some good news at Barcelona, as they await a decision from the courts on Dani Olmo's registration. The Catalan giants feel they have it He convinced Bayer Leverkusen's Jonathan Tah to sign For them. The deal has not been completed yet, but it appears that Taha's decision has been made.
Along the coast in Valencia, Los Che is in full crisis mode. At the bottom of the table, with club legend Ruben Baraga sacked, West Bromwich Albion's Carlos Corberan was brought in to rescue him. Valencia paid €2.4m to extract Corberan from the Midlands, but his appointment was not met with much enthusiasm.
Corberan was more or less announced as Christmas midnight struck, but Celta Vigo fans were more than happy with their gift. Now legendary striker Iago Aspas, 37, has extended his contract for another season until 2026 – he has 9 contributions in 13 matches this season. A former Liverpool graduate could return to La Liga in January too, as Real Betis appear to be in talks over Arthur Melo joining from Juventus.
