Soriano: “The plan is to have the squad closed” at Dépor

Fernando Soriano, sporting director of Deportivo, said ahead of the match against Valencia that the club is heading into the final stretch of the transfer window with the goal of keeping the squad settled. As he explained to DAZN, after eight signings and multiple departures, the intention is to only make changes if a deal comes up that would improve what’s already in place.

Closing phase of the window

Soriano was clear about the situation: “The normal thing is that there won’t be many moves.” While he suggested the squad is practically set, he still left the door open for the 48 hours remaining. “The plan is that it should already be closed,” he said, according to Sport.

On arrivals, Deportivo completed the signing of Adama Traoré “the night of Wednesday,” and earlier they had already brought in Teun Gijselhart, Leo Román, Bright Ede, Lorenzo Amatucci, Aubameyang and Asp Jensen. The bigger challenge right now is player movement out: Soriano stated that the exit process is still work-intensive, with certain cases particularly complicated.

Departures still in the works

Among the names the club is looking to move on, Soriano mentioned Eric Puerto, who “is pointing” to Penafiel; Charlie Patiño, with Bochum interested in a loan; and also addressed the situations of Dani Barcia and José Ángel. Sport reports that Barcia has “rejected several options” to leave on loan.

Regarding timing, Soriano said the club will keep working through the coming hours and that a decision will be made within 72 hours, though he admitted it is “going slowly.” Deportivo also had interest in Juan Jesus, though the player “is expected to stay in Italy.”

With this picture, Deportivo’s direction is straightforward: sign only if something comes along that upgrades the squad, and above all, sort out the late departures to finalize the roster.