LEGANÉS
Arnáiz: “I'm not thinking about a Barça return, I'm only thinking about Leganés”
Arnáiz is the most expensive player in Leganés' history and while Barcelona have a buyback option, he is only thinking about his new club.
Leganés have a new start. The present and the future. It's José Arnáiz, the most expensive signing in the club's history at €5 million from Barcelona. Injury derailed his journey to Barcelona's first team, which has since taken him to the suburbs of Madrid, but his former club are not counting him out and have a buyback option along with still owning a percentage of his rights. But Arnáiz only has eyes for his new team for now. "Returning to Barça? Right now, I am not thinking about that. I am only thinking about Leganés. In recovering and in helping the team," he said.
The winger says he always wanted a move to Leganés because "they're the ones who bet on me. I was clear. I also bet on them," he continued as he was presented as the newest member of Mauricio Pellegrino's side. It's not every day that Leganés present a player worth five million euro. But it's not just about money. It's about determination and insistence. This is what Txema Indias, the sporting director say as he accompanied the player in his first appearance as a Leganés player.
Leganés also signed Óscar Rodríguez Arnáiz from Real Madrid and the question was also put to him as to whether they are related to end a long running debate. "Yes, yes," he said. "We are distant cousins. I think that his mother and my father are cousins," he continued.
Arnáiz says "being close to home is important." He was born in Talavera de la Reina, an hour outside of Madrid and says "on my free days, I can get away to see my parents and my brother."
Pellegrino has added 15 players to his squad after taking the role in the summer including Nigerian Kenneth Omeruo on loan from Chelsea.
