Mario Husillos
“There are two different situations. Firstly we had players that needed the chance to play more minutes on the pitch, including Recio, Juanmi and Buonanotte. In the case of Juanmi and Recio, we’re pleased they’re on loan as this will help them to grow as footballers, and we hope they’ll return to form the basis of Málaga next season. We wish Buonanotte the very best of luck. Two or three months ago he stressed that he wanted to play more football and rack up more minutes on the pitch, but we were unable to make this happen. Therefore we were pleased when the transfer request came up, and we reached an agreement everyone was happy with, to allow Buonanotte to begin his new adventure. On the other hand, we have Nacho Monreal’s situation. His exit certainly wasn’t in our plans, following an offer from a Spanish club. However the last-minute offer from Arsenal was too good to resist. The big clubs are always looking for the best players; it was just a shame it wasn’t until 1 p.m. yesterday when the agreement was reached, but we found a replacement, someone who was on our list.”
“With regards to the new signings, the arrival of Lucas Piazon and Lugano made us a bit more relaxed; then Morales and Antunes, both international players, despite not being very well- known amongst the players here. However they most certainly deserve the opportunity to come to Málaga, and were within our means. We’re extremely pleased to have these last-minute signings to complete the squad, which was a logical move, and now we’re looking forward to seeing what they can do.”
“There’s no doubt about the excitement generated when a team like Arsenal shows an interest in a player. A team is allowed three changes to the Champions League list, but following Monreal’s departure, which is our final permitted change, going along the lines of two players per position, Pedro Morales won’t unfortunately be included in the line-up. These three signings were exactly what we were looking for, and we weren’t contemplating any sort of transfer until we received too good an offer to resist.”
“There are ideal situations, and then there’s reality. One thing is for sure, the income received by the Club certainly isn’t reflected in our salaries. Over the past two or three years, every football club has owed money, and everyone is well aware of the Financial Fair Play regulations. We’ve got nine players on loan, and we need to speak to them to determine what will happen in the future. We lost Rondón, Maresca, Cazorla and Mathijsen, who cost us a lot to bring here. Their departure could have made things very difficult for the team, but we continued to work hard and do the best we could. I think we need to reduce the payroll as we can’t have players here and be unable to pay their wages. We need to gradually face the reality surrounding Málaga; which is why we have an option over the new players who have joined us, and why Isco has renewed his contract. It’s vital that we don’t lose our competitive edge. Málaga is now on the world stage, and our style of play is recognisable, so we need to make sure that this doesn’t change.”
“Congratulations to Isco for being selected to play for Spain in the match against Uruguay in Doha. We’re so pleased for him, and to have a member of the most important team in the world is wonderful.”
“We send our most sincere condolences following the loss of Martín’s father yesterday. Martín is a member of this family and he is free to return from Argentina whenever he’s ready. He’s now with his family, following the death of his father in an accident.”
