Goalkeeper Carousel: The story of Getafe.
I love it when the transfer window is open, or about to open, and all those rumors are coming in. Especially in the summertime when it's several months of players being linked to any kind of teams. The goalkeeper market is exactly that, but more specific, who will become the number 1 somewhere, and who will lose his starting spot? This is the story about Getafe.
Until a few days ago, this would have been an uncertain choice to see who would become the new number 1 in Getafe. David Soria was heavily linked to Real Madrid and be the new backup from Courtois, assuming Lunin would leave Madrid. Lunin, benched for too long now, wants to make a move to become a starting goalkeeper somewhere. There were no recent rumors about him, though, and he stated the same last summer. So will he at last leave the Spanish capital? Let's see, but he still has a contract till 2024. Does Madrid want to let him go for a small fee or expect a
return on investment after paying more than 8 M euros for him back in 2018?
Where a lot of media already assumed Soria would end up in Real Madrid, this week the opposite story landed. The negotiations between Getafe and Real to buy Soria (as the gk still has a contract till 2026) are on standby. And we would just see Soria next season as the starting goalie from the club. That doesn't mean they don't need other goalkeepers. 3rd goalkeeper Conde already signed for Leganes and Casilla, out of contract this summer, will not stay at the club.
Getafe is on the verge of signing Danish goalkeeper Jungdal from AC Milan (he was on loan this season playing for Austrian Bundesliga team Altach). The young Danish goal-stopper would be as the 3rd choice in Getafe, so they would still need to sign a decent competitor for Soria, assuming he stays. Two names kept popping up over the last few days, Pacheco and Guaita. Pacheco had 3 different clubs over the last 12 months. Playing for Alaves in the season 21-22, moved to Almeria last summer, where he couldn't win the competition for 1st goalkeeper against Martinez, and therefore moved to Espanyol in winter. At Espanyol, he did win the competition over Fernandez but was relegated with the Catalan team. Instead of selling a lot of players, Espanyol is thinking to send players on loan to La Liga teams or others, and when they would win the promotion next season, have a decent team from the start. So Pacheco is a possibility for a lot of teams, not only Getafe.
Another name around is Vicente Guaita. The Spanish goalie is already 36 years old and lost his starting spot by the end of this season in Crystal Palace to Sam Johnstone. Johnstone himself is rumored as a possibility for Everton in case they sell Pickford this summer. Although Guaita still has a contract till 2024, it does make sense he moves back to Spain to play his last seasons. With a history of 4 seasons in Getafe as their starting gk, Getafe does seem like a logical choice. I don't know if he would want to become a backup goalie in case Soria is staying, the same story for Pacheco. But Getafe will sign a decent competitor for Soria anyway, so lot of rumors to come in Getafe over the next days and weeks.