Elche CF signing from Sant Andreu

[gordonchas]

Simon, it seems Elche are about to sign Manuel Lanzarote from your beloved cuatribarradas.

Do you know anything about him?

[Simon]

That is absolutely dismal news!

He is (was?) our star player - pretty sure he was top goalscorer last year, and if he wasn't he did score all the crucial goals - he's a bit of a 92nd minute specialist.

Can play straight centre forward but is most dangerous when comes from deep - somewhere between Henry and Iniesta's positions at Barça.

He's got a bit of a bedraggled rat look about him but he's much too good for Segunda B and will benefit from being surrounded by higher quality players.

He will be sorely missed at Narcís Sala.

[gordonchas]

I'm sorry he has to go, Simon, though something has to be done to rectify Elche's forward line which has done nothing since the incomparable Nino (once again the 2nd Division's top scorer this season) was sold in 2006.

This season Elche's 4 strikers scored 8 goals between them. The leading scorer was a midfield player, David Fuster, who scored 13 and has now been snapped up by Villarreal.

Of those 4 strikers, two were on-loan from La Liga clubs (one a current Spain U-21 international unbelievably) so it looks like Elche are looking beyond these under-perfomers and going for the best of 2B. In addition to your guy, they are also signing Jorge Molina from Poli Ejido, who managed a hat-trick against Villarreal in the Copa del Rey this season.

[gordonchas]

Breathe again, Simon. It seems like he's staying put.