Much better this time! Now it is time to build on that and continue to grow as a club!
2026/27 La Liga Review
The press predicted us to finish 15th with 800-1 title odds, an improvement on our 1000-1 title odds of last year. Considering how well we did last year with even worse odds, I was feeling confident after a successful summer of recruitment.
We managed to finish 8th, 8 points ahead of last season's finish and just 1 point shy of a Europa League qualifier spot. We also improved our goal difference from last year's -19 to +1, a massive jump helped by heavy investment in my defense.
Notable Signings
Albert Fernandez
Fernandez was my best signing of the window, joining for an absolute bargain of just £8.5m from Atletico Madrid. With his level of quality and relatively young age, the deal was a no-brainer and he's already well on his way to becoming a world class center back. Fernandez played a huge role in our successful season, featuring in 31(2) league matches and maintaining an average rating of 6.96. At just 23 years old he's proven himself to be one of the best defenders in the league and by extension the world, so hopefully he can keep improving. With a release clause of £79m, I think it's safe to say he won't be going anywhere anytime soon.
Liang Junchen
In a very lucrative free transfer, Chinese striker Liang Junchen signed from Inter Milan, becoming our first-ever Chinese player and giving us a nice revenue boost from shirt sales in his country. Junchen appears to have great potential, perhaps even world class potential, but has so far struggled to perform at his best. In 27(1) league appearances, Junchen only scored 3 goals and managed 2 assists despite playing in his preferred position (ST) and role (AF). I will likely consider switching his tactical role to a pressing forward, which may suit our system better.
Michael Lecjaks
After making an error in judgement by selling left-backs Fedde Leysen and Josh Dasilva at the beginning of the season without finding 2 replacements, I signed Lecjaks from Manchester City for £6.5m. Lecjaks made an immediate impact, starting 16 of our final 19 matches after joining and chipping in with 3 assists. He seems to have the quality to become a very good La Liga left back and will likely be in my starting lineup for years to come.
Billy Lapslie
Originally signed just for backup, Lapslie gradually fought his way into the starting lineup as the season went on, featuring in 16(2) league matches and scoring 4 goals while grabbing 2 more assists. I was able to get Lapslie for just £125k from Arsenal, practically a steal. I'm not sure why they were willing to let him go for such a low price tag, as he's demonstrated himself to be a great prospect with real quality. At just 21 years old, hopefully he can kick on and take his game to the next level next year.
Standout Performers
Leandro Vallejos
Vallejos continued to be the bedrock that holds my midfield together, starting 32 matches and appearing in 2 others while maintaining an average rating of 6.94. His impressive consistency has attracted interest from Rayo Vallecano and Hamburg, but I think I'll be able to hold onto him for at least a few more years.
Leighton Clarkson
Clarkson was my second-highest appearance maker last season, featuring in 35(2) of a possible 38 league matches and keeping an average rating of 6.84 while contributing 2 goals and 5 assists. Clarkson's all-time appearance tally is now at 142 and he seems to be cementing himself as a real club legend. Hopefully he isn't tempted by the interest from elsewhere!
Notable Departures
Tiago Gouveia
I signed Gouveia halfway through the 2024/25 season, when we were in the Segunda División for the second time. He seemed like he'd be a great tactical fit and had real quality on the ball, but his lack of end product saw him struggle to hold down a starting role and I decided to sell him to Amiens in the summer after 27(6) appearances for the club over a year and a half. I managed to make a £25k profit, which isn't much but it's not bad all things considered!
Isaac Rice
Isaac Rice was an incredible disappointment. Signed for £5.5m in the January window of the 2023/24 season, Rice struggled to improve much during his time with the club despite making 48(3) league appearances across 2 and a half years. I was only able to get £1.6m of my original investment back, making him one of my worst signings of this save. Interestingly, Rice has already moved clubs again, joining Huddersfield for £2.4m just 6 months after singing for Bristol City.
Fedde Leysen
I decided to sell Leysen to Ligue 1 club Nimes when an offer for £700k came in, as he was one of our weaker links the year prior. I struggled to find an adequate replacement in time, though, and I ended up with just one barely first team quality left back for the first half of the season. Perhaps it would've been best to keep Leysen as backup rather than just selling him for that relatively low sum. However, I made a reasonable £662k profit on his sale, so it wasn't a total loss.
Tactics
I kept the positive pressing tactic from last season and while I tweaked some of the individual roles, the system was largely the same. Within the relatively structured tactical set-up, I have numerous creative options in both central midfielders, full-backs, and usually one winger directly involved in creating chances for the front 2/3 attackers. For the bigger matches, I switched the mentality to "Cautious" and dropped the backline to a standard line rather than a high line. This is different from my tactic against bigger oppositions last year, when I opted for a deep back 5 with a much deeper midfield. This year I felt like we were a more established La Liga side and the ultra defensive style of play isn't really my cup of tea, so we went head to head with the bigger Spanish sides and I was pleased with the results.
