Last summer Ignacio Camacho made his wish to join West Brom clear, feeling his time at Malaga was over. Everything was very public indeed, with Malaga’s outspoken owner taking to Twitter to say Camacho would only leave if it suited the club.
Despite Camacho’s wishes to join Tony Pulis, West Brom didn’t feel they could match his €18m clause all in one go. It was strange, West Brom were clearly interested, the player and Malaga gave that away, and €18m was a very reasonable price, but the Baggies took the huff when asked to pay it upfront.
Camacho’s dream of a big transfer, financially at least, was dashed, and Malaga tried to make everything ok by saying they’d award the midfielder an improved contract. Crucial for Malaga, Camacho’s €18m clause had seemed too low for a while so a pay rise and higher clause made sense.
However, weeks turned into months and no new contract came. Now Malaga manager Michel is left worried about his ‘leader’ leaving the club. Quoted by Malaga Hoy, Michel explained: “Camacho is a real leader here and if he leaves we would have to invent another leader. We would lose a player like him both ion and off the pitch.”
Malaga’s owners aren’t managing this very well, which will be of no surprise to anyone familar with the club in recent seasons. It’s a second chance for West Brom to do the deal at €18m, a second chance they shouldn’t really have.
