The planning of the next season at Sporting is in a parenthesis until the rojiblanco team does not ensure permanence in the Second Division and, for this, it must add at least two points in the two days that remain to finish the championship. However, the first name of some weight that has been placed on the table to be part of the new project is Ibai Gómez.
This is a footballer that Abelardo knows well from his first stage at Deportivo Alavés. Ibai Gómez, 32, was in Vitoria for three seasons (2016-2019) and played under the orders of the smurf in the last two. The Bilbao player has a past at the Babazorro club but most of his career has been developed at Athletic, where he spent eight seasons, spread over two stages. After playing for Alavés, the rojiblanco club took him back after paying almost four million euros for his transfer. Marcelino García –with whom he appears in the photo– was his last coach at San Mamés.
Ibai Gómez was already a target for Sporting last summer. The arrival of Fran Villalba aborted the possibility of incorporating the Basque footballer who now he is without a team and intends to return to Spanish football after competing in recent months with the Iranian club Foolad Khuzestan in the Asian Champions League. Your arrival in Mareo can come true this time.
In Vitoria, Ibai Gómez coincided with Jony, in addition to having Abelardo as coach. And the desire of the coach, who will have full powers in the planning of the team, is that Sporting take ownership of the Cangas del Narcea winger, now on loan from the Italian Lazio. Jony Rodríguez is 30 years old and could face the end of his career back homealthough the president Javier Fernández will have to fit the numbers of an entity that has seen its salary mass significantly reduced and that must alleviate some seven million losses in the last season.
Sporting’s new project, which also has to define the role that sports director Javier Rico will play –at least outside of Mareo’s doors–, must also face a profound transformation of the squad. Nothing less than 12 soccer players fulfill their contract on June 30; These are Marc Valiente, Borja López, Jean-Sylvain Babin, Pablo Pérez, Berto and those on loan Fran Villalba, Jordi Calavera, Vasyl Kravets, Juan Berrocal, José Luis Rodríguez, Eric Ramírez and Jony Rodríguez.
Villalba and the centrals
Sporting exercised the purchase option on Fran Villalba but the conflict is open for not having negotiated the conditions of the footballer’s contract that could have a destination far from Gijón. In the case of Juan Berrocal, the club intended to exercise the purchase option that is now being studied in greater depth.
There will be changes in all the demarcations but the ones that have the most problems are in the center of the defense, because the four central defenders comply. Babin, eager to renew for at least one year, is still waiting for the call from President Javier Fernández, which could be late because the French has offers from Malaga and Cartagena, in addition to Burgos. The renewal of Borja López could, on the other hand, be a fact.
To all this, three players return after playing on loan this season, in addition to youth player Pelayo Morilla. It’s about the goalkeeper Christian Joel, Pelayo Suarez and Manu Garcia. The latter could be the subject of a transfer as well as some more sales to cover the losses of recent years.