With the impending departure of Umar Sadiq hanging over Almeria’s survival hopes, the club have moved to bring in a replacement forward.
Although a veteran with plenty of experience in La Liga, Almeria fans might not have expected Leo Baptistao to be that replacement. The club announced his signing on Thursday, arriving from Santos.
The 29-year-old has previously turned out for Espanyol, Rayo Vallecano, Real Betis, Atletico Madrid and Villarreal in the past, scoring 34 goals in 178 La Liga games. This year he has 7 goals in 30 appearances in Brazil. The reported fee is €1.5m.
Meanwhile his former club Espanyol have bid an emotional goodbye to Chinese forward Wu Lei, who joins Shanghai Port in after three-and-a-half years in Barcelona.
In total he played 126 times for Espanyol and contributed 16 goals and 6 assists.
On the North Coast of Spain, Ernesto Valverde has continued to slim down his Athletic Club squad with the exit of Nico Serrano. The promising 19-year-old has gone on loan to Segunda side Mirandes in order to gain minutes this season. Last campaign he did make 14 appearances under Marcelino Garcia Toral, but mostly off the bench. Serrano will hope for a starting berth at Mirandes to surpass the total of 304 minutes he earned.
More must-reads: