"This isn't Fantasy": Girona's first problem in the transfer market

GironaThe summer at Montilivi will be a long one. More than three weeks have passed since the end of the La Liga season, and there have still been no significant moves in the red-and-white squad. The only official departures have been the loan signings of Danjuma, Arthur (the club would like him to continue, but it's a very complicated financial transaction), Oriol Romeu, and Bryan Gil, and the non-renewal of Juanpe Ramírez, the fifth departure. There's no news of any potential new faces, beyond the fact that the spotlight is on the forward line. Girona wants to shake things up, but has a problem: the amortization of last summer's signings. There's still 12 million euros to cover for the deals for Abel Ruiz and Bojan Miovski to be financially worthwhile.

Quique Cárcel, the Girona sporting director, doesn't plan to lose money on any of the players in the squad. And this includes the two aforementioned players, two big bets who haven't performed as expected. "We have people under contract. Football isn't that easy when it comes to changes, making a player leave or another arrive. That's why there's a salary cap. We don't want to sell at a loss, and what we want is to sign cheaply, like the rest of the clubs. We've planned an idea of what we'd like to execute, but what we would like," of what we would like. He spoke at a press conference to review the season, adding: "We must be realistic and work with common sense: we won't get rid of a player by losing money, because that will affect the salary cap." Cárcel assures that this season Girona will see its budget reduced and will be in the lower-middle part of the league in terms of the salary cap.

Undervalued in the Market

A year ago, Girona invested another 9 million for Abel Ruiz and 6.50 for Miovski, with different variables, capital gains and salary, which raise the figures even more. Both were called to replace Artem Dovbyk, top scorer in La Liga with 24 goals, but adding all competitions they scored eight. The numbers explain that Abel Ruiz signed until 2029, which means the amortization for each season comes to 1.8 million, leaving 7.2, and Miovski signed until 2028, at 1.6 per year, leaving 4.9. The fact that they have devalued does not help: according to TransfermarktAbel Ruiz has a market value of 4 million, and Miovski 2.5 million. For now, it's the Macedonian who has the best chance of leaving the squad; something essential to be able to sign a new player with guarantees.

"It's clear that I'm not happy with the forward line, that's obvious. Things haven't gone the way we would have liked," acknowledged Cárcel, who believes, "without really knowing why," that they have been singled out and criticized from the moment they joined. "This isn't Fantasy football, where everyone has such a good time playing. There are many aspects to take into account here. It's been a year of firsts, also for me as sporting director. We've been forced to learn along the way." A journey that ended with them staying in the pocket thanks to the goals and self-respect of the duo formed by Stuani and Portu. The Uruguayan is in talks with the club to renew his contract.