Real Mallorca transfer window analysis – what have Real Mallorca done and what do they need to do? | OneFootball

In: Manu Morlanes (Villarreal), Toni Lato (Valencia), Omar Mascarell (Elche)

Loan returns: Jordi Mboula (Racing de Santander), Braian Cufre (New York City), Javi Llabres (Mirandes)

Out: Inigo Ruiz de Galarreta (Athletic Club), Dennis Hadzikadunic (Rostov), Kadewere (Olympique Lyon), Ludwig Augustinsson (Sevilla), Angel Rodriguez (Tenerife), Leo Roman (Real Oviedo), Matija Nastasic (free)

Summary so far: A very sensible looking Real Mallorca so far. Three signings in the door early, without large expenditure. Morlanes is decent La Liga-level midfielder, as is Mascarell. The latter gives their centre of the park a good bit of ballast, and is the sort of player that does the simple things well – the type of player that Javier Aguirre loves.

Toni Lato is a good long-term option at left-back, who will compete with Jaume Costa. The loss of de Galarreta is covered by those additions, even if he was a very useful midfielder. In losing Kadewere, Mallorca lose a raw pace option off the bench which could really mix things up for them. Nastasic was never a regular, but did pass 1,200 minutes last season.

The big question is whether Kang-In Lee will leave. The South Korean starlet has reportedly agreed a deal to head to Paris Saint-Germain, and while this section tries to stick to certainties, the loss of Kang-In would be so dramatic that it could define their summer.

Key Need: The above means that finding a creative midfielder-cum-forward is a necessity. There is an argument to be made that even if Kang-In does stick around this summer, then he probably won’t be there come this time next year.

His partnership with Vedat Muriqi made Mallorca an exciting watch, and while the Kosovan is the defining factor in terms of style of play, leadership and the shape of their game, when Aguirre needed a little bit of extra quality to find him, Kang-In was on hand. The player that replaces Kang-In needs to have vision and the ability to escape pressure. One of the secrets to their success was that Kang-In could be relied upon to hold the ball whenever Muriqi was unavailable or had won the first battle.

Beneath the Surface: You would realistically like another forward to complement or contrast Muriqi. Abdon Prats is valiant in his efforts, and runs the same lines as Muriqi, but not to the same effect. If they are missing Muriqi for any length of time though, then it’s a lot of pressure to place on a forward with just 4 La Liga goals in just 70 attempts.

Equally, Aguirre often used three central defenders last season, but there are only four of them on the roster for next season, and that includes rookie Josep Gaya. Another central defender will give the Mexican some flexibility and competition for places next season. Working under Aguirre probably keeps you on your toes as it is, but he won’t want Martin Valjent, Jose Copete and Toni Raillo getting too comfortable.