Asked Friday about the aborted transfer of Pau Lopez to Lens, the coach of Girona, where he is officially on loan until the end of the season from Olympique de Marseille, gave some explanations at a press conference. Michel explained that he needed his goalkeeper and did not validate his loan during the winter transfer window.
A true-false transfer finally explained. If Pau Lopez was initially to break his loan to Girona, where he did not play, to be loaned again by OM but this time to Lens, the deal was suspended by the Catalan club at the last minute. A turnaround that Michel, the Girona coach, tried to explain during the press conference on Friday before a trip to Alaves.
“Pau Lopez asked for permission to undergo the medical examination and we gave it to him, but nothing more,” assured the technician of the current eighth in La Liga. “The club asked for my answer or my intention and I told Quique (Carcel, Girona sporting director) that I want him to stay because I think the club needs to grow and he is a great player .A player who makes the team better.”
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-What future for Pau Lopez after January 29?
The reason given by the Spanish club would be the impossibility of including another goalkeeper on the list of players able to play in the Champions League. Girona would therefore prefer to keep Pau Lopez until January 29, the date of the last league match in the European competition, a condition that RC Lens did not accept, having communicated too quickly about his transfer when everything was not yet signed .
Currently ranked 30th, five lengths from the top 24, Girona has registered two experienced goalkeepers this season (the holder Paulo Gazzaniga and, therefore, Pau Lopez), as well as three young people, Jordi Danso (17 years old), Pau Garcia (17 years old) and Lucas Garcia (20 years old). The latter was injured in training on January 7, jeopardizing the Catalan goalkeeper’s transfer to RC Lens.
Beyond January 29, Michel does not know what Pau Lopez’s future will hold: “I don’t know what will happen, but for me, if he leaves, it will be a big loss. Competition in goal is complicated. For the moment, I think that with Pau we have a very well covered position. He is doing well, he has trained normally and I think everything will be fine.
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