Las Palmas seals defender, hunts winger; Arana on standby

UD Las Palmas will announce a centre-back signing in the coming hours, confirmed by club president Miguel Ángel Ramírez on Wednesday. The executive said the position is "sealed", though he withheld the player's name and flatly ruled out Dani Barcia from Deportivo de La Coruña: "That's a lie", he said.

Ramírez also revealed that Luigi Cherubini, an Italian winger at Roma, interests them, but "the player cannot come due to a problem with his club". Regarding Juan Carlos Arana, striker at Racing de Santander, the president admitted they would "love" to sign him, but the player "wants to play in the top flight" with the mountain club and would only arrive at Las Palmas "almost certainly" if he "senses" no first-team opportunity there awaits.

On departures, Ramírez confirmed that whilst Cristian Gutiérrez remains, other clubs are sniffing around the full-back and several other squad players under boss Rubén de la Barrera.