Girona have been the story of the season so far in La Liga, topping the table after 13 games and playing the best football in the division in the process of doing so.
The Blanquivermells lost a number of key players over the summer in Rodrigo Riquelme, Oriol Romeu and Taty Castellanos, but have not skipped a beat. While no doubt Michel Sanchez is the architect behind their success, without the talent on the pitch, then his expertise would be lost.
Unsurprisingly, some of the big fish in Europe are starting to look at Girona’s team and wonder if their players might be able to do a job for them. Relevo name former Real Madrid full-back Miguel Gutierrez, recently capped Spain international Aleix Garcia, Brazilian starlet Savio Moreira and Ukrainian target man Artem Dovbyk.
Gutierrez has been linked to Arsenal as an affordable left-back option after an impressive start to the season inverting into midfield. Garcia is making a strong case that he is one of the best midfielders in the division. Savio is arguably the player with the highest ceiling of the quartet, but the Brazilian, who belongs to the City Group, is likely to remain until at least the end of the season, on loan from Troyes.
Girona signed Dovbyk this summer from Dnipro, and have bought 70% of his rights for €8m. Yet with the 26-year-old has 7 goals and 5 assists in 13 games, just 9 of which were starts. Dovbyk is quickly catching the eye, as one of the key reasons for their success.
The Catalan side will be wary of selling in January, particularly given they are on course for an historic season. Equally, Girona made a profit in the transfer market this summer, and are not in need of money, so can afford to demand high prices for any of their stars.
