Real Mallorca appear to be no nearer in their search for a new striker; with just two weeks until the season starts, the situation is slightly worrying. Alfredo Ortuño, who was one of our main targets, became surplus to requirements at Las Palmas and has decided to join Cadiz where he'll join up with ex-Mallorca hit-man Dani Guiza – now a veteran at 35. It's reported that our director of football, Javier Recio, wasn't well pleased with Ortuño's agent, as we were considered first option. I'm not surprised he's turned us down after he had several verbal spats with Fernando Vazquez last spring. I was at Girona in May sitting just next to the Mallorca dug-out. Vazquez and Ortuño had a proper pop at each other several times in the second half. Ortuño could score goals but was lazy and didn't put in enough effort.
In reality Mallorca already have a goal machine in their own backyard. Mateu Ferrer scored 31 goals for our B team last season but, because of a ruling, players of 25 years of age or over are not allowed to play for B teams. As Mateu's 25 he finds himself in limbo, training with the B team but unable to play a competitive game with them. He's now waiting to be snapped up by whoever. Surely Ferrer's the answer to our striking problems, or at least he should be given a chance.
There are still a lot of Mallorca supporters who are agitated about our failure to bring in the elusive number nine, as the transfer window deadline closes on 31 August. The problem is, as I've mentioned in the past, every other club is looking for exactly the same thing – a goalscorer. They don't come cheap at any level and as Real Mallorca have been languishing desperately close to relegation over the past two seasons – who wants to come here? The other major stumbling block is the salary. In La Liga 2 the top salary is around 200,000 euros, which by modern inflated prices is peanuts and an amount that most top strikers wouldn't get out of bed for. I keep reminding people that two of the teams that won promotion to La Liga last season, Leganes and Osasuna, didn't have an out-and-out striker playing regularly.
When we were taken over by an American consortium in January the initial investment kept Real Mallorca afloat financially. The problem is we're still heavily in debt and a large part of the takeover money is being paid towards us being solvent again.
La Liga Santander and La Liga 2 clubs have to make their stadiums appear full or face sanctions this coming season. It was announced on Thursday that clubs must sit supporters in a way that makes the ground look full. If they don't, there will be financial penalties. A message sent to the top four tiers of the national football league system in Spain explained that crowds at the stadium are part of the audio-visual perception of the match and the ground should appear to be full for an optimum TV broadcast. Attendance in the Son Moix, for example in the Tribuna Sol area opposite the main camera, is particularly important. This area should be at least 75% full and if it isn't, a fine will be issued, and if it falls below 50% the sanction will be doubled.
This measure will be suspended for games played during adverse weather condition. If any club considers that some area of its stadium which are not usually shown on telly are usually empty, La Liga and La Liga 2 will finance the installation of tarpaulins to cover the unused seats. Several clubs in the top two divisions have already made cosmetic changes and restructured the layout of their grounds. The Spanish league announced a 2.6 billion euro TV deal with Movistar and Mediapro in February. Before that Spanish clubs had negotiated their TV rights on an individual basis.