Sleepless in Zaragoza: Indias battling to save club from relegation nightmare
Real Zaragoza sporting director Txema Indias opens up about transfer window challenges, squad injuries, and his personal struggle as the club fights for survival in Segunda División.
Zaragoza’s sporting director hasn’t been catching any shut-eye lately, but insists his personal worries take a backseat to the club’s precarious position in Spain’s second tier.
Winter window woes
Txema Indias has defended Real Zaragoza’s decision to wait until deadline day to complete their winter transfer business. Despite criticism from some quarters about the timing, Indias believes the club made the right call in securing six new arrivals to bolster their relegation battle.
“These same six players we’ve signed would have been impossible to get on January 1st,” Indias explained, pointing to market dynamics that favoured patience despite the club’s desperate situation.
The sporting director highlighted several challenges that complicated their transfer strategy:
- Limited salary cap (though improved through club efforts)
- Only one free squad registration spot initially
- Multiple injuries in midfield forcing late moves
- Need to balance positions across the squad
The Ale Gomes situation
One peculiar case involves young talent Ale Gomes. Indias revealed the club approached the player and his family in early December about activating a clause in his youth contract after he reached 10 appearances. Despite efforts to secure his signature on a first-team contract in January, they’ve received no response from the player’s camp, who have since acquired an agent.
Faith in the project
Despite sitting in the relegation zone, Indias remains convinced the team can survive:
- Backs manager Sellés to extract maximum performance from players
- Believes the new signings provide better tools for the coaching staff
- Emphasizes short-term focus: “The project is beating Eibar, then the next one”
Personal toll
The pressure is clearly affecting Indias, who admitted: “I’ve gone days without sleeping, but I don’t think about myself, only about getting Real Zaragoza out of this situation.”
With four months of competition remaining, Zaragoza’s sporting director is banking on the January reinforcements to turn their fortunes around and avoid the drop to Spain’s third tier - a disaster for a club of their historical standing.