According to the report from football-espana, Sevilla have for the second season in a row brought in an experienced La Liga veteran in order to put out the fires at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan....CONTINUE READING THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
After Diego Alonso was relieved of his duties on Saturday night, Los Nervionenses concluded talks with Quique Sanchez Flores to become their manager, announcing a deal on Monday afternoon.
Like Jose Luis Mendilibar last season, Sanchez Flores has been more used to saving teams from relegation rather than propelling them towards Europe.
That will have to be the case for Sevilla as well, who after their 3-0 defeat to Getafe are only out of the drop zone on goal difference. The ex-Valencia and Atletico Madrid manager has signed an 18-month deal that will see him in charge until 2025.
The experienced coach has a tough job on his hands. Sevilla have been unable to climb out of the mire since Julen Lopetegui left, save for a brief spell under Mendilibar last season.
Now Sanchez Flores is given a baptism of fire, heading to relegation rivals Granada on Tuesday knowing a defeat will see their hosts move to within two points against them.
Sporting Director Deco has been coy on the matter, suggesting that fans should not get their hopes up for anything more than the arrival of Vitor Roque, who is due to complete his move from Athletico Paranaense. Yet speaking to EFE, via Sport, Laporta explained that they are intending on doing what they can to strengthen.
“If we manage to have ‘fair play,’ the idea is to have a midfielder who in some way compensates for Gavi’s loss. It would be a loan until the end of the season, like many years ago we did with Edgar Davids, for example.”
“We have margin, I think that until the end of the year we can generate ‘fair play’, due to a series of operations that we have underway and if they are confirmed, we would have options,”
He also claims that they may not have to work within the restrictions of their salary limit for being in excess of what they are supposed to be spending next season.
“If we meet the budget, which is very ambitious, we could go to the market with the guarantees of carrying out operations that do not involve personal guarantees from the directors and it would be a matter of being able to sign normally.”
Davids arrived on loan in January in the 2003-04 season, with Frank Rijkaard under heavy pressure, and was the spark that lighted up a Barcelona side, who charged up to second in the table with the Dutch pair leading the way.
He came in from Juventus, and with Gavi having gone down through injury, it looks as if they will try to emulate the impact of Davids’ signing.
Whether they can find the profile and the quality that Davids brought remains to be seen, with Barcelona most patently missing a deeper midfielder to screen the back four…CONTINUE READING>>
