We had to wait until October for one of the biggest transfer bombshells to drop. Once the transfer window closes, clubs have the opportunity to add players to their roster, but on the sole condition that the player must be a free agent—never under contract with another club.
Here, Getafe has taken advantage of the situation involving a legendary Madrid native whose contract expired on June 30. It is none other than Dani Carvajal, Real Madrid’s historical right back with five Champions League titles to his credit.
This unusual move makes more sense than it seems at first glance. Dani Carvajal grew up in a neighborhood near Getafe, and the possibility of continuing to compete at the highest level without having to move away from home is very exciting. His performance on the field will depend on his physical condition after five months without group training and on his battered right knee, which forced him to miss virtually the entire 2024–2025 season.
Ángel Torres, president of Getafe CF, stated today that Dani Carvajal “has already passed his physical and all that remains is to reach an agreement with La Liga”.
The deal is now in the hands of La Liga’s Evaluation Committee, composed of three independent experts. This committee assesses whether the transfer is in line with market conditions based on criteria such as the player’s age, career history, international appearances, and country of origin. And then, as always, it must be verified whether the club—in this case, Getafe—has sufficient salary cap space to register him.
Staying in Madrid is a very appealing factor that clubs use to attract talent that, under other circumstances, would be impossible to sign. For example, a month ago, Leganés announced the signing of Álvaro Morata. The striker wanted to return to Spain after three unsuccessful journeys with AC Milan, Galatasaray, and Como.
His impetuous desire to return to Madrid overrode his sporting interests, and he ended up at a Second Division club to fulfill his goal. A month later, he has already played five games and hasn’t scored a single goal.
There are countless cases of players that as Dani Carvajal took a step back in their careers to become stars on lesser-known teams. Today we’re going to take a look at some of them.
After a decade in which he was one of the leading figures in Manchester City’s rise to the European elite, 2020 marked the moment when David Silva decided to leave the British Isles behind. He sought a new home in Spain, at a club that played an attractive style of soccer and was on the rise, having reached the Copa del Rey final and qualified for the Europa League.
San Sebastián was the city, and Real Sociedad was the club Silva chose to take his final step in the world of soccer. His impact was immediate, and he demonstrated the caliber that had made him indispensable to the successes of the Cityzens and the Spanish national team.
In a total of 93 games played, his 8 goals and 17 assists do not fully reflect the influence he came to wield on the field, which reached its peak with the team’s qualification for the Champions League.
Football was not kind to him, forcing him to retire after tearing his ACL during a preseason training session. Far from the warmth of the fans and without the chance to say goodbye on the field, he had to bid farewell in July 2023 at the age of 37.
Monaco, Juventus, River Plate… And among all these giants, Hércules de Alicante sneaks in. The team from a city of 300,000 people.
In 2010, Hercules Alicante made a major investment in the year of its return to the First Division, after a fourteen-year absence. They signed 33-year-old David Trezeguet with the aim of putting Alicante on the map and attracting fans and media coverage.
His performance during the first half of the season was strong, as he found the back of the net twelve times. Many of those goals came early in the season, which was marred by a poor second half that sent his team back down to the Second Division.
The dream of playing in the First Division was over, and that marked the end of Trezeguet’s time in Spain. Fifteen years later, that massive investment continues to take a toll on the club’s finances, as it currently competes in the First Federation, the third tier of national soccer.
He was one of Las Palmas’s more unexpected signings of the past decade. Alberto Aquilani also wore the yellow jersey. His performance was spectacular, scoring ten goals and recording five assists in 29 games.
One of those ten goals earned him the award for best goal of the season, an acrobatic finish to a beautiful team play.
His time at Las Palmas gave his career a small boost, but it was soon overshadowed again by his unconventional lifestyle off the field.
His strong play in Spain caught the attention of Italy’s Sassuolo, which signed him in June. In January—four months later—Barcelona, impressed by his performance just one year earlier in La Liga, signed him to serve as a backup for Luis Suárez.
Chronic knee problems prevented him from being a reliable performer in the more than 70 games Barcelona played that season, and the board of directors turned to the older Boateng to replace him.
The result was disastrous; during his six-month stint at Barcelona, he played in four games, with no goals and no assists.
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