In: Aridane (Osasuna)
Loan returns: Randy Nteka (Elche), Joni Montiel (Levante), Bebe (Real Zaragoza)
Out: Santi Comesana (Villarreal), Alejandro Catena (Osasuna), Fran Garcia (Real Madrid), Sergio Camello (Atletico Madrid), Florian Lejeune (Alaves), Mario Suarez, Diego Lopez, Mario Hernandez and Esteban Saveljich (free)
Summary so far: If Sporting Director David Cobeno didn’t have such a good track record in recent years, you might be getting a little concerned. Currently Rayo have just six defenders on the books, only three of which have any real La Liga experience and no left-backs.
The big loss is obviously Andoni Iraola, who exits the club with an historic legacy at Vallecas. Replacement Francisco probably isn’t the most inspiring replacement, but he has shown he can do a good job, either with teams at the top of the second division or in the bottom half of La Liga. He looked to play with a three at Elche last, but that may well have been resource-based. Given the above, he might adjust his ideas accordingly.
The absence of Comesana is a major loss. Catena and Garcia were also stalwarts of both Iraola and this version of Rayo, while Lejeune and Camello were starters last year too, it will be a total rebuild at the back.
Aridane coming in for free from Osasuna is a neat veteran pick up, and is likely to essentially swap places with Catena going the other way. Mario Suarez stopped contributing on the pitch a while ago, but the veteran midfielder was a good presence in the dressing room. So far, you’d say it’s time they got a move on.
Key Need: If you hadn’t gathered from the above, Rayo need defenders, and quick. Garcia barely missed a game for Rayo over the past two seasons and the same could be said for Catena –
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