Rafa Benítez: Celta de Vigo’s Bet to Recover Greatness in its Centenary Season

The prestigious coach Rafa Benítez is Celta de Vigo’s bet to recover greatness in the season of its Centenary, after several years of much suffering to celebrate its permanence in LaLiga and a continuous dance of names on the Balaídos bench.

Celta is looking for a new identity, and for this they have delivered their project to the renowned Madrid coach. Benítez signed for three seasons, and will be the highest paid coach since Carlos Mouriño became president.

His signing has unleashed the illusion of Celticism, and the best example is that, for the first time in its history, the club has not been able to meet the “avalanche” of its fans to register as subscribers.

At the moment, and waiting for the signing of the Swedish central defender Carl Starfelt (Celtic) to close, the team has only invested money in retaining Carles Pérez, a fundamental piece in the last stretch of last season, and in the young Carlos Dotor , former captain of Castilla.

Jonathan Bamba

Left-back Manu Sánchez has entered into the operation that ended Javi Galán at Atlético de Madrid, and winger Jonathan Bamba arrives free from Lille. Benítez still expects at least two more reinforcements: a goalkeeper and a striker.

The first is on track, and the second depends on the departure of the Portuguese Gonçalo Paciencia, which does not count for the coach. He’s not the only one. Benítez has also opened the doors to Sergio Carreira, José Fontán and Miguel Baeza.

The one who seems not to move from Vigo is the Peruvian international Renato Tapia, despite the fact that he only has one year left on his contract and the club hoped to “make cash” with his transfer. The center midfielder has conveyed to Benítez his desire to continue in the team, and for this reason he has already rejected the first offers that have come his way.

The future of Gabri Veiga

The departure of Gabri Veiga is not expected either. Last March, the club’s president and largest shareholder, Carlos Mouriño, predicted that the midfielder would change his shirt this summer. “We don’t want to sell it, but they are going to buy it from us,” he said. Five months later, and after a secondary role for Celtic in the European under 21 with the Spanish team, no club has submitted an offer that comes close to 40 million euros of its clause.

At Celta headquarters no one counts on his transfer anymore, and that has reduced the financial muscle to invest in transfers despite getting rid of high chips such as those of Hugo Mallo, Denis Suárez, Óscar Rodríguez, Haris Seferovic or Santi Mina.

The summer matches have shown that Benítez will build his Celta from the defensive order. His team has gone 180 minutes without conceding and two narrow wins against Olympique de Lyon and Wolfsburg. The counterattack will be another of the weapons of the celestial group. There is one week left for the start of the League, and the EuroOsasuna will be the first height test for the new project.

2023-08-10 07:16:39
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