Village Idiot

As manager.

Deportivo sign Seedorf until the end of season. Odd. His record isn't really all that, and Deportivo are facing relegation.

In a derby match as well. Mind, when you have that much of a gap you can probably rotate a bit more with the CL coming up. The derbies this year have been pretty feisty. Piqué has been a boss or a total cunt depending on your side of the aisle

That the Watford lot? Yeah. At one point they owned Watford, Granada and Udinese. The Spanish Police's Financial Crimes Unit has been investigating them for over a year, and it seems they got enough evidence to at least arrest Pina, who was their business partner in Spain.

Quique Pina - former GM of Granada and currently GM of Cádiz - has been arrested under accusations of money laundering related to footballer transfers while he worked with the Pozzo family. Color me surprised... not.

We need a cover/alternate to Rakitic, since André Gomes is pish. I assume Arthur is in the typical Brazilian attacking midfielder mold rather than a #6-#8?

He's superb, he'd be an excellent signing. Thanks, I'll allow myself to get moderately excited then. We seem unable to sign good players "at the source", just overpay when they have already proven themselves.

We are reportedly in talks with Gremio over Arthur. He'd sign in the summer, after the World Cup. Know him, Flip?

Iñigo Martínez is one of those "I'd never sign for Athletic" types, though. Ah well, money's money I guess.

I know Sandro hasn't had the best of times at Everton but given the low expectations he should be okay. I'm sure he'd be able to get more goals than your current lot for sure. He's a poor man's Higuaín.

Deulofeu to Watford official now.

He's been completely useless for us this season. I know he's had some good spells at Milan and Everton so there must still be a player in there, but really needs to sort himself. He was linked with Napoli before, a stark contrast with Watford. Although I'm sure Watford has more money.

Looks like Deulofeu may be heading to Watford on loan.

Well, that was a close shave. Alavés are shite and I went to the stadium expecting a bit of a mauling, but this shows you can't sleepwalk through games at this level.

Anybody else feels guilty about worrying first for your Fantasy team every time you see one of those horrific tackles?

Ulloa would be a pretty noticeable upgrade on Joselu imho.

The little I have seen of Diskerud (mostly internationals when he still got games for USMNT) doesn't make me believe he'd fit in Girona at all.

Copa del Rey semifinals draw: Barcelona - Valencia Leganés - Sevilla

Yeah. It was a brief appearance, but he mixed in well.

Off to the semis. Messi was brilliant and we could have easily had a few more, but Pau pulled off some canny saves.

Coutinho in the squad for today's game against Espanyol. Eager to see him play for us, but not sure this is the best game for it. Espanyol like it rough against us and he's fresh off his injury.

Isco is a fan favorite, but I don't think he's the player they should be building their offence around. Too ponderous, tends to overdo their buildup. A Real Madrid fan friend of mine always says - and I agree with him to a degree - "whenever Isco is the best player on the pitch, it's a sign we're having a bad game". I think that works for today, too.

Yep. Madrid have to score 2. EDIT: sorry, they just need one. For some reason I had it in my mind they drew 0-0 in the first leg. It was a 0-1 away win for Real.

Mascherano to China official now, he's saying his goodbyes in a press conference as I write this. Fantastic servant of the club. Wish him all the good.

This calls for a beer surely. Drop me a line when you're in town, if you have the time.