Bought last season with a lot of promise and a hefty fee, Borja Baston’s first season in the Premier League can only be described as a failure.
The 24-year-old arrived from Atlético Madrid for over £15m last summer yet only managed to make 20 appearances in all competitions, scoring just the one goal in a 3-2 loss against Arsenal early on in the season.
Whether Baston simply struggled to adapt or never impressed his managers enough, we’ll never really know, but Paul Clement refused to rule out a future at the Libery Stadium for the striker at the end of the campaign.
However, the latest developments strongly suggest his time in Wales could be coming to an end, as Cope Malaga reporter Javier Bautista reported on Tuesday the 24-year-old had passed his medical with Malaga, and was on the verge of signing for the La Liga side on a one-year loan with an option to buy at €12m.
Borja Bastón ya pasó todo el reconocimiento medico y hoy firmará. Ya busca casa. Un año cedido con opción de compra que ronda los 12 kilos.
— Javier Bautista (@fjbautista) 4 July 2017
Having just sold Sandro to Everton for €6m, replacing the Barcelona youth product was key for the Spanish club, and they appear to have found their man.
€12m is a lot for them, however, but Bautista puts it this way: if he scores 20 goals for them, he’d be worth it, and if they didn’t have the option to buy him and he did score that many, they’d probably end up having to pay more.
It makes sense for everyone involved, and Swansea could make a large chunk of their money back in the process.
