Without an exorbitant amount of money, with the economy longing for better times, finding solutions becomes essential for a club like Girona, which has lost purchasing power but keeps intact the ambition to fight among the greats and sneak into the party of the struggle for promotion. The signings are going well: some are possible, but without going over and always looking closely at the amounts. Therefore, more avenues need to be explored. Here, the work being done at the base, which is bearing fruit, is gaining strength and prominence. More than one youngster has not only made his debut, but he already has a first team record and being a starter is no stranger to anyone. To all this must be added the assignments. Those short-term operations, which can save a season. Arrive, play, surrender and leave, in most cases. Therefore, it is necessary to spin thin. Get it right. The business may or may not work. Are you being productive this year?
The answer opens up a wide range of possibilities. Yes and no. It depends. There are lights as well as shadows. It is difficult for all the pieces to fit together and their numbers are as expected. As a general assessment, the pass may be fair. But it is also true that some of the names chosen are those that do not leave anyone indifferent. Some assignment is working and how. There are some that are still unknown, for those who do not finish rolling no matter how many weeks go by. To choose and shuffle. However, there are names that stand out and make a difference. It is that of Álex Baena (Vila-real) who is signing a season to frame. Protagonist on Sunday against Oviedo, for a good number of minutes he regained his best version, paying attention to the message that a few days ago had been publicly sent to him by Míchel Sánchez, who recalled that the player was far from his optimal level but working to catch him again.
Said and done. The Andalusian shines with its own light. He is 20 years old and this is just his first experience in the Second Division, but he has adapted to it perfectly and shows, by quality and intelligence on the grass, aptitudes to think of a solid course a category above. Once the initial doubts have been dispelled, the relevant adaptation time has passed, the outbreak has been evident. He is the only player to have surpassed the 2,000-minute mark this season, counting his appearances in the league and also in the Copa del Rey, raising his participation to 31 games between the two competitions. And that’s when the month of March has just begun and the hottest is in the sink.
Beyond all that, what really stands out about Alex Baena’s performance is his importance in the game and the result. He is no longer one of the players with the most minutes and an indispensable piece for Michel. But he has also participated by scoring 4 goals (3 of them have helped to win) and giving up to 5 assists. He is, in this last chapter, the best of the whole staff. No one has scored more than him this season.
Baena is the loan that is giving the best results, by far. But the role of Pol Lozano (Espanyol) should not be underestimated either. The midfielder has played less, but has been blamed for an injury that kept him away from the pitch for a few weeks. This makes his participation not so high, but even so he is already climbing to 1,184 minutes in the League, to which must be added the 213 in the Copa del Rey. There are 21 matches between the two competitions. He signed an assist and also scored a goal in the first days and that did not help too much against a Sporting that beat Montilivi (1-2). But this is not his specialty. Míchel likes the characteristics of Catalan, which has made him a regular pivot in his schemes. Despite not having a large size, it fulfills and often notices its function in the middle of the field. Contain, cut and start game. Whatever is put in front of you. It can also be said that his is a fairly prolific assignment. It works, it has fitted in and if there is no other physical setback to be regretted, it will have continuity.
Intermittency and irregularity
By numbers, another loan that might seem to work is Nahuel Bustos (Manchester City). Just looking at the numbers, they are not entirely negative either. He has overcome the barrier of 1,000 minutes and has done so, from time to time, to catch the thirty games, which are not few. However, in addition to giving two assists, he has become the second highest scorer in the entire squad. The Argentine has scored 5 goals. So far, so good. But scratching a little, it is clear that the performance is not as expected for a footballer who has cost a few million euros and who is living his second consecutive experience in Montilivi. The first, that of discovery, did not go very well. And this, that of theoretical consolidation, works in droves. Bustos has improved his record, although so far he has not proved to be reliable as a replacement for Cristhian Stuani, the only pure and simple striker who is performing in the face of the demands of a category such as the Second Division.
And less is Pablo Moreno (Manchester City), punished by injuries and lack of regularity. He is the eternal substitute, a shock that has not just exploded, who has only appeared in the Cup for a quarter of an hour and whose record in the League is quite poor: 207 minutes in 19 games. That is, a lot of time, but all of them very short. He has scored a goal, of course. He plays less even than last year, when he was not indisputable but appeared more. At the age of 20, he has not yet exploded, nor has he corroborated why Juventus caught him a while back from Barça, where he was busy scoring goals during his training period.
Darío Sarmiento also landed from Manchester City. If not, the Argentine accumulates almost as many minutes as Pablo Moreno (233), but concentrated in fewer appearances: 9 games, all of them in the League. Young and still inexperienced, it was obvious that it would be difficult for him to explode and consolidate at eleven, but all this has been compounded by injuries. There are already two and important ones, which have caused him not to play since the end of October. And that, before getting hurt for the first time, he began to offer quality details. As a precise center in the head of Cristhian Stuani to tie with Zaragoza “in extremis” in Montilivi. Once it is recovered, it will be necessary to see if Míchel ends up using it as a testimonial or if, on the contrary, it is gaining prominence in the final shower of the season. Right now, unlikely.
And the unknown arrives. That of an Iván Martín (Villarreal) who has not yet had time to prove why he was signed. He has been in Girona for weeks now, but he hasn’t been counted on yet. Without incorporating the expected front, it opted for another profile in the winter market. So far no one was able to send in the perfect solution, which is not strange. But he has not had much involvement in being able to do so. Or at least try it. It’s 4 league games and only 89 minutes. Little, if not very little. Of course, Michel asked him a few more days ago. We will have to see, therefore, how it evolves during these weeks. If he takes the step forward he is claimed and fattened by his numbers. Or if on the contrary, it gets stuck and its transfer, which will end on June 30, ends up being completely unproductive.
