It is not another renovation. Dani Queipo’s contract extension is the first for Orlegi to a youth player since he joined the club last summer. Neither before the change of ownership was it planned, nor was anyone expecting it. The only one who perhaps could have had in his head that it was worth betting on this tiny extreme was Abelardo. He, Queipo, has been one of the gourds that Pitu has relied on to rebalance the team and use the word “project” to talk about the future. The one that allows aspiring with an idea of a club and a team to go up to the First Division.
To talk about the project, Abelardo relied a few weeks ago on the three players trained in Mareo who has made his debut this year. They are included in a conclusive fact that the Pitu did not mention but it is easily obtained by taking a look at the footballers who have taken part so far: fourteen of the twenty-nine players with minutes in the League have gone through the lower categories. That, as the motto of the Mexican group says, is “evolving together.”
It is striking that the renewal of Queipo, announced by LA NUEVA ESPAÑA, became official in the days after the plan and the start of works to improve Mareo were known by the club. The center that Orlegi wants to place again within the elite of training in Spain. The one who will recover the residence for homegrown players. Beyond coincidences or strategy, the commitment to a profile like his is the best sign of health for the rojiblanco future. As far as he goes, he has shown everyone who comes after him that there is a place for them.
Queipo’s example is the one that in his day could be seen in other homegrown players like Nacho Cases. A lifetime in Mareo and when few bet on seeing them in the first team, the day came and they grabbed tooth and nail at the moment. A difficulty that gives added value. In the case of this skilled 20-year-old attacker, a Business Administration and Management student, Abelardo ended up giving him priority over one of his weaknesses: Jony (another whom Pitu pulled out of the mud to turn him into a footballer for whom half of the First Division stuck). There are no privileges. The circle of Xeitosa closed. Queipo passed through the hands of Brito, who brought him to Gijón from Lugones, to later act as a springboard towards Mareo. Same path as the Pitu. Curiosities of destiny
Another of the readings of Queipo’s personal triumph is in Abelardo. She bet on him making him beat more competition than Jony’s. The return of the cangués was one of those that unleashed the greatest excitement among sportinguismo, despite the fact that everyone was aware that he would need more weeks than the rest to get it ready. To give him a margin, another candidate for the post came out along the way, nothing more and nothing less, than from Mexico. Not only that. Jordan Carrillo is one of the products of Orlegi’s million-dollar investment in Santos Laguna. A young man coined by the property in the enviable installation of Territorio Santos Modelo. The Pitu saw something and decided without trembling his pulse.
Queipo not only started as a starter. He jumped start for five straight games. Jordan, for his part, had to wait for matchday 15. There will be those who think that he was unfair to the Mexican, but the scenario shows the courage and personality of the coach in decision-making. The same courage that brought him back to the club to avoid a catastrophe. The easy thing, surely, would have been to see Jordan before. Even at the beginning.
The end of December may shed some light on whether Sporting will continue to build next season with Abelardo at the helm, as his contract ends in June. Ahead, the challenge of ending a streak of six games without victories, despite the fact that five of them were draws. Just around the corner, a derby that always has a devastating effect on the victim. What is evident is that if you want to talk about a project, bets like Queipo’s are essential.
