Real Oviedo and Levante currently stand out as potential relegations in LaLiga. However, only four points currently separate Getafe in 11th place and Rayo Vallecano in 18th place. With Girona, Sevilla, Alaves, Elche, Mallorca, and Valencia in the middle, a scrap of power has been cooked up to survive.
The winter transfer window has just closed, and every club in the lower half has signed at least one new player. In such a tough race, the success or failure of those players can ultimately determine who will stay at the top, and who will be relegated to the second tier.
There was evidence of that last season, when Espanyol’s ability to bring in Roberto Fernandez and Urko Gonzalez de Zarate on January loan deals helped launch their campaign. Finally the Catalans survived the last day.
Several eye-catching transfers and loans were completed during last week’s deadline. Here are the new faces who look set to make a big impact at their new clubs:
Ilias Akhomach (Rayo Vallecano)
Rayo Vallecano have looked strong on the flanks, but short up front for a few seasons now. Given their long-term failure to address this issue, it should come as no surprise that the Madrid-based club have opted to sign two new players, but none of the top players this window.
Although that approach may seem strange, the loan addition of Ilias Akhomach could prove a shrewd piece of business. It effectively ensures that Jorge de Frutos, who won the right-back by trade, will continue to operate as a number nine for the rest of the campaign, where he will be hoping to add to his seven-goal return.
Akhomach has found himself on the low side at Villarreal since returning from a torn ACL. However, he is still only 21 years old and has shown his potential as a talented player in the 2023/24 season at Ceramica. Despite the limited chances, he registered two assists in the Champions League for the Yellow Submarine earlier this season, and could have a real impact on Vallecas if he can return to his pre-injury level.
Guido Rodriguez (Valencia)
Valencia have completed another big transfer in Spain this window with the €5m signing of Umar Sadiq. He should provide useful competition to Hugo Duro in attack, but it is possible that the capture of Guido Rodriguez from West Ham will ultimately prove a shrewd piece of business.
Rodriguez is following in the footsteps of the likes of Pablo Fornals and Carlos Soler by returning to LaLiga after failing at the London Stadium. The 31-year-old has logged just 177 minutes of Premier League football in the first half of this season, but has been a key player in Real Betis’ midfield between 2020 and 2024.
Capped 30 times by Argentina, Rodriguez is a player with a tough pedigree. At his best, he is good enough to fit into this Valencia side. His experience should come in handy if Los Che are in contention for relegation in the final weeks of the campaign.
Martin Satriano and Luiz Vazquez (Getafe)
Since January, all signs have been that Getafe will end up losing heavily in this transfer window. Christantus Uche’s lack of playing time at Crystal Palace has left them determined to miss out on the €20 million they expected to receive when they loaned the player to the English club last summer. That purchase obligation clause does not look certain to be fulfilled.
However, the club still found a way to finance five new loan additions. Most notably, LaLiga’s low goalscorers have added two strikers in the form of Martin Satriano and Luiz Vazquez.
That was important business when Borja Mayoral and Juanmi were sidelined. The two youngsters have been thrown into the team and are already making things happen, with Vazquez scoring key goals against rivals Girona and Alaves.
Neither player arrived with the most goalscoring records at their previous clubs, but both have the height and physicality that should make them suitable for Pepe Bordalas’ side.
Claudio Echeverri (Girona)
Girona’s relationship with “sister club” Manchester City has been a source of debate and controversy in Spain. The extent to which they rely on Premier League dressing by players is sometimes overplayed, but they certainly benefited from it on this occasion, signing Claudio Echeverri for an estimated €15m on loan from Pep Guardiola’s side.
The 20-year-old attacking midfielder is a product of River Plate’s youth system, and is regarded as one of Argentina’s brightest young players, although he struggled for regular minutes on loan at Bayer Leverkusen in the first half of the season.
That should be less of a problem at Montilivi, where Echeverri is expected to bring creativity, possibly from a wide role, instead of his preferred position as a number 10.
It was not a good start for this young man, his mistake led to Sevilla getting a 1-1 equalizer on Sunday. However, he is a bright talent who should soon begin to make a positive impact on the other end of the field.
Neal Maupay (Sevilla)
In one of the more unexpected news of the January window, Neal Maupay has completed a loan move from Marseille to Sevilla, his official X account previously teasing the striker after the pre-season friendly between the clubs in August.
As all seemed to be forgiven after a little discussion on social media, Maupay quickly got into the more serious issue of the layoff battle. The French striker scored the first goal, despite a 4-1 defeat against Mallorca, before playing the full 90 minutes in a 1-1 draw against Girona.
He looks set to team up with Akor Adams up front for the Andalusians. Matias Almeyda will need both forwards to score goals if his team is to stay strong.
Ugo Raghouber (Levante)
Five points from safety as it is, Levante could do with bringing in more than two players in January, especially if prospects are low when it comes to inexperienced Dutch midfielder Tay Abed, a €200k addition to PSV.
Ugo Raghouber arrived with more interest, after completing his loan from Lille. The midfielder has already started three games in LaLiga, and has appeared to be developing quickly into some of the Valencia club’s existing options in the center of the park.
Although it’s only a small sample when it comes to the 22-year-old, he currently ranks second on the Levante team in tackles per game (2.3) and tackles per game (1.3). Raghouber’s presence should make the strugglers more competitive in the midfield, although some weaknesses have yet to be fully addressed.
Gonzalo Villar (Elche)
Elche also opted to boost their midfield in the winter window, with the signing of Gonzalo Villar on loan. The 27-year-old is a home-grown talent who came through Franjiverdes’ youth academy, and went on to represent the club in the Segunda Division between 2018 and 2020.
He also played 47 times for Roma in the 2020/21 season, but his progress has stalled since then, with two separate loan spells at Getafe, followed by moves to Granada and Dinamo Zagreb, who retain the player’s current ownership.
There is an option to buy in the deal, which was partly triggered by the sale of Rodrigo Mendoza to Atletico Madrid for 16 million euros. That helped finance a flurry of late transfer activity in Martinez Valero, with Lucas Cepeda, Abiel Osorio, Tete Morente, and Buba Sangare also joining Eder Sarabia’s squad.
Thiago Fernandez (Real Oviedo)
After a poor first half of the season, there have been signs of life at Real Oviedo since the appointment of Guillermo Almada. However, this group still finds itself in a difficult position to approach this window because it knows that being axed will be the result, regardless of what the business is.
Finally, the Asturians chose to tackle the loan market, with three new additions. The most exciting of those is probably Thiago Fernandez, the 21-year-old midfielder, who joined Villarreal on a free transfer from Velez Sarsfield at the start of January, before going to Carlos Tartiere on loan.
He arrived with a reputation for being an inventive, direct attacking player and it didn’t take long for Thiago to make his mark. Ten minutes to be exact, when the youngster came off the bench to set up Ilyas Chaira for the only goal as Oviedo got only their third win of the season against Girona.
Mark is a freelance football writer based in Madrid, and editor of LaLigaExpert.com. He has been linking LaLiga and European football since 2014.
