Oviedo closed yesterday the strategic signing of the blue winter market: the attacker Manu Vallejo, who arrives on loan from Girona, from the First Division until June. The agreement was finalized in the morning, as announced by LA NUEVA ESPAÑA. Oviedo included in the agreement a purchase option in the event of promotion to the First Division. Vallejo arrived in the Asturian capital last night after a long road trip from Girona – about nine hours – accompanied by his girlfriend, Mari Carmen Fierro, and his dog, a flirtatious poodle named “Killo”. Blue sweatshirt and sweatpants, the footballer was smiling and seemed happy.
At the Silken Monumental Naranco hotel – where Raúl Moro is also staying – Agustín Lleida, general director of Oviedo, was waiting for him, who had dinner with Vallejo and his girlfriend and updated him on the club.
The incorporation of Vallejo, 25, will become official this morning and later the attacker will train with the group at El Requexón. It is not ruled out that he will be summoned to receive Villarreal B tomorrow. At the club they think that it may be the icing on the cake to give more quality to the squad and thus try to get closer to the play-off positions after a very irregular start to the League. In addition, the blue entity closed the door at the exit of Obeng, forward. The Vallejo operation, the star movement, has accelerated in recent days. The winger did not have minutes at Girona, which urged him to find a way out to release his file and thus be able to sign up Callens, his new signing.
Vallejo’s first intention before this market was to stay in the First Division and speed up his options until the last days, but the insistence of Oviedo and the position of Girona precipitated events. The influence of Cervera, who trained Vallejo at Cádiz, has been a vital factor for the signing, but not the only one. Oviedo stealthily piloted the operation and got ahead of several teams in the category, who were also interested in the attacker.
The one who insisted the most was Zaragoza, through its sports director, Juan Carlos Cordero, the man who signed his first professional contract at Cádiz. The competition was tough. Oviedo’s sports management, led by Roberto Suárez with the support of Agustín Lleida, general manager, had to make every effort in the negotiations. In fact, at first Vallejo’s agents thought that the best destination for the winger was Zaragoza, but the footballer’s decision ended up weighing more than the position of his surroundings. The negotiation has been slow and difficult and has been successfully closed for Oviedo. For the blue club, Vallejo was always the number one objective in order to reinforce the attack.
In Oviedo they wanted to measure their words by heart yesterday while waiting for the player’s signature. Suárez, sports director, spoke about Vallejo in Moro’s presentation. “We are hopeful that he could be one of the signings and he could be closer, but right now he is not our player. We have to keep working, but we are doing well. If he were the last signing of this winter market we would be happy”, said the sports director, who nevertheless did not completely close the door to more signings in addition to Vallejo. In the entity it was considered that this extreme position, which can also be adapted as a second striker, had been orphaned in summer. With Vallejo, the tactical options multiply for Cervera. The man from Cádiz can also play behind the striker and in fact it is in that position that the coach used him the most at Cádiz. Also on the left is Raúl Moro, another winter signing, and Borja Sánchez will also return to the team after several injuries. Until now, Hugo Rama occupied that position of left-handed attacker.
Oviedo, then, faces the last days of the market with relative calm and is also pending departures. The order at the club is clear: if someone wants to leave, they must say so and then the club will decide. Suárez, in this sense, closed the door yesterday to Obeng’s departure, who showed “concern” about his lack of prominence. “The club and the coach are counting on him. If Obeng doesn’t want to continue for whatever reason, he has to contact us. Whoever wants Obeng would have to agree with us,” said the sports director. “He has shown us his concern for not knowing if he was going to have continuity. He is having it, Cervera has shown it to him and we have dispelled that concern,” Suárez concluded.
