A leader with energy, the legend Stuani and the escape of key players

GironaGirona 2026-27 still does not have a coach, but it has already outlined a first picture of what it wants to be. There will be profound changes within a squad that will most certainly change more than 50% of its components. Consequently, new faces will arrive: the average number of signings in the Quique Cárcel era is ten to twelve per summer, and this one will be no different. The sporting director, however, must move the most important piece of all as soon as possible. This is the figure of the new coach, for the moment a question mark after some alternatives have fallen.

In the previous relegation to Second Division, Girona already took it easy: the League ended on May 18, on the 20th Eusebio Sacristán was dismissed, and it wasn't until June 13, after three good weeks, that Juan Carlos Unzué was announced. Now things are going the same way: they were relegated on May 23, on the last matchday; on the 28th they said goodbye to Míchel Sánchez, and there is still no news. Cárcel is in the full process of selecting the new captain of the white-and-red ship, which he hopes to close before the end of this month, because without him there will be no official movement whatsoever. It will be the new coach who will decide all the ins and outs operations that will occur throughout the transfer market, even though from the offices they have already accepted what might happen with most of the protagonists who have led the team to hell.

From the list of possible coaches, without much having been revealed, what is known is that Girona has had contact with García Pimienta, Jagoba Arrasate, and Alessio Lisci, in the same way that they did with Carles Martínez before he signed for Bayer Leverkusen. Another of the names they like is Joan Francesc Ferrer Rubi, who already managed the club in 2012 and is currently competing in the play-off for promotion to the First Division with Almeria, a fact that would explain why the bench remains vacant and everything is at a standstill. The fans' fondest dream is Aday Benítez, who is one step away from playing the final to go up to Second Division with Europa, whom he took over in Second RFEF. Cárcel keeps the ace up his sleeve of the brothers Quique and Óscar Álvarez, sons of Quique Costas, who have managed Girona B. Whoever it is, he wants a leader who injects energy.

Arnau, Ounahi and Tsygankov

Of the little that Cárcel was able to affirm, the most notable was that "the untouchables will definitely leave". Having analyzed the squad situation, with more than twenty players under contract, including players returning from loan, the players with the most market value who are unlikely to continue at Girona are Arnau Martínez, Azzedine Ounahi and Viktor Tsygankov. Girona will fight for interested clubs to pay the value of each player and not take advantage of the situation, because if they do not receive an interesting figure, they will not sell anyone cheaply. In this context, the names of Vanat, Bryan Gil, Iván Martín or Fran Beltrán can be added to the three mentioned.

Of course, the will of each player will also be decisive in making and unmaking. Men like Àlex Moreno, Joel Roca, Alejandro Francés and Paulo Gazzaniga are in a gray area, because they could leave if they truly wish to and the club in question pays what they are worth, but Girona could also retain them if the new coach is convinced of them. Another story is Jhon Solís, Yáser Asprilla, Donny Van de Beek or Abel Ruiz, signings destined for the Champions League who have crashed along the way and in whose case it would be best for both parties to find a solution that buries the current discomfort. For Solís, Birmingham executed the purchase option on Monday, for about seven million, according to Fabrizio Romano.

Stuani and David Lopez

Without putting them in the same bag, Stuani and David López, among the footballers whose contracts are ending, are the ones with the most possibilities of continuing. The Uruguayan does not want to leave Girona, while it is rumored that, given the loss of center-backs in the squad —Vitor Reis and Blind—, the Catalan center-back could receive a reduced offer to renew for one more year, always with the approval of the new coach, who will also decide Stuani's future. This is what Cárcel literally stated, in a turn of events that no one saw coming because it is understood that with the Uruguayan, who wants to retire at Girona, there should be a different sensitivity for all that he has shown after nine years.

To finish, who will come to Montilivi? Besides the loaned players who are returning and could have a place in the Second Division (Minsu, Jastin, Misehouy or Dawda), Girona has had for months the Blanes-born Izan González and the Ukrainian Oleksandr Pyshchur, both already announced. Not many more names have come to light because here the figure of the new coach continues to be paramount, but the Figueres forward Arnau Ortiz is liked, very much so, with a past at the club and who has emerged in the Primera RFEF scoring 23 goals and providing six assists with Atlético de Madrid's reserve team.