A shower of millions to pulverize Girona's backbone

GironaThe final hours in Montilivi's offices were intense. Míchel could lose three starters at once: in addition to the already confirmed departure of Miguel Gutiérrez, which will leave at least nine million in the Girona coffers, the departures of Ladislav Krejci and Yangel Herrera could be added. A force majeure situation with the La Liga season already underway (with defeat and a serious warning), which shakes the sporting structure and will force a restructuring of the squad after a month and a half of the transfer window and with ten days left until the window finally closes.

With the club's well-known salary cap problems, the appearance of Wolverhampton with a briefcase full of cash is like oil in a lamp. The English team is yearning for Krejci, the Czech center-back who cost another eight million last year, with variables that could rise to twelve million. The offer rises to almost thirty million, practically the entire buyout clause. Girona neither wants nor is able to say no, because this deal would solve many headaches for them.

What they are no longer so keen on is Yangel Herrera's departure, despite the fact that the player would like to continue his career elsewhere. Real Sociedad has expressed interest, but with the sale of Krejci, the red-and-white team can gain strength in the negotiations and ask for a similar amount to the release clause, 25 million. Real Sociedad, aware of Míchel's needs, who wants a striker at all costs, want to take advantage of the negotiations to include Umar Sadiq, who had a half-finished contract with Valencia. Losing Miguel, Krejci, and Yangel Herrera in a single incident at the end of August would be a setback as painful as it was unexpected for a club that should be coming up with emergency solutions.

Àlex Moreno, eight years later

Girona is reportedly interested in the arrival of left-back Àlex Moreno, whom they wanted back in 2017 for the club's first La Liga campaign. He was 24 then, and is now 32. However, this won't involve a major investment, as he will have left Aston Villa beforehand, meaning they will only have to pay his salary. He will be the fifth signing of the summer, and none of them will have had a transfer fee.

From then on, the machinery will continue to turn in the search for the midfielder Míchel desires. Claudio Echeverri will not be coming, having completely rejected the possibility of him landing at Montilivi despite suggestions from Manchester City. They are keen on Azzedine Ounahi, whose Moroccan player from Marseille, Luis Enrique, said he was in love with the sport after eliminating him from the World Cup in the Morocco-Spain match decided on penalties.

The efforts will also be shared across the central axis, weakened by Krejci's departure, and, above all, the forward line, with the question mark surrounding Sadiq looming. And there may still be departures for less important players, such as Solís or Miovski, who have yet to find a buyer willing to pay the price set by Girona. Míchel, who only asked for the squad to be as defined as possible at the beginning of preseason in order to work properly, will have to rethink many things with the competition underway. Another setback for a club that had worked very well in recent years, with a defined plan, but which the Champions League season has ended up weakening with a pattern of improvisation to which it is unaccustomed.