“I want to show people that I am still a good player”

How about Malaga?

Very good. I am delighted with life here, with the city and with the club. Too bad we’re going through a bad dynamic.

Why did you decide to come to Malaga?

Since December I had contacts with Manolo (Gaspar, the sports director). Speaking so soon was decisive. I had the idea that it would be a very good option. Málaga as a club caught my attention.

Many people say that you are a gamer…

I don’t like to label myself. I try to contribute what I can, I like to have the ball and make the last pass. I feel comfortable having freedom of movement to come and go. I am a tour player, the typical box to box. that arrives and then goes down and defends. I adapt to what the coach asks of me.

How was your time at Real Madrid?

I left my home in Lleida when I was 13 years old and I went through all the lower categories of Real Madrid. It was pretty tough. Leaving home so young. Without your friends or your family, you are a child. You go to a place by yourself where you have to grow older by leaps and bounds. It was quite difficult. The first year was quite hard separating me from my parents and my people. I matured a lot.

That’s a good school.

I was playing from 13 to 20. I lived in a residence. It was a boarding school that had an agreement with Real Madrid. Later, in the last years of the youth academy, they did the residency in Valdebebas and I was there for the last two years.

That famous goal that scored against Naples from 30 meters in that youth Champions League is still remembered.

It is one of the best moments I have had as a footballer. That night I had trouble sleeping. It was at the last minute and meant qualification for the quarterfinals. It was a volley from outside the box.

In Castilla he coincided with good blackbirds like Mario Hermoso, Odegaard…

It is what the Real Madrid quarry has. You meet people of a very high level. I have had the luck and the conditions to have been able to belong to a club and share a dressing room with great players. Odegaard already saw that he was good. He had a lot of quality.

And Zidane as coach.

He was a quiet man who kept his distance. With his presence she made herself respected. A nice stage.

Ramis has been an important coach in his career.

I am very grateful to him because, both in the Real Madrid academy and at Albacete, he always trusted me. In Albacete we had an unforgettable year that we could not finish with promotion. He is a coach who has affected me a lot, the most, both at Real Madrid and at Albacete.

In Zaragoza he coincides with Natxo González.

He is a demanding coach and very meticulous at a tactical level. He analyzes the rival very well. He transmits a lot of tranquility to the group.

Tell us about your time at Mallorca.

At first it went well. I had never played in the First Division and that was my dream. It was a great joy that a First Club was interested in me after the season I did in Albacete. I also started playing. The year of Second and the return to First, with Luis García, was very hard because I did not have minutes or continuity. It was a pretty tough stage and that’s why I looked for a way out in the winter market because I wanted to feel like a footballer again and for someone to trust me.

How about Luis Garcia?

The coach-player relationship was correct. We had a cordial treatment. The relationship of a footballer who does not play with a coach is not the same as if you are a starter. There was never a bad vibe.

And he arrives in Malaga…

I’m looking to revalue myself because I haven’t competed continuously for a year and a half. In football you cannot live from the past and what I was looking for was to reactivate myself at a football level, so that people would not forget about me and that someone would give me the opportunity to show myself again and show people that I am still a good player and that I can show things.

Is it true that the offers you had were Malaga or Huesca?

He had a choice other than those two. I opted for Málaga because I had a good connection with Manolo from the beginning. What he told me I liked. And for the club that is Málaga, which is very big. I was much better classified than now. It was a good option to give my career a boost.

He has a contract with Mallorca until 2023. When he arrives at Malaga, he asks to include a purchase option.

Both the clubs and I decided that it was the best. It is one more motivation in case I am happy and the clubs, also to be able to reach an agreement later.

Do you see yourself here in the future?

Málaga is a good club to make a career and it is a motivation for me to have a purchase option and to be able to sign a good contract in a club like Málaga. For them to make a big investment in me, I will have to earn it. This is not the time to think about that with two months left in the competition and what the team is playing with. These are not easy times.

Does the purchase option go for half a million euros?

The two clubs have told me that in that sense I cannot say much. I don’t know the exact amounts, but they are around there.

Real Madrid always imposes a repurchase option. In your case it is 50%.

It was the condition that Mallorca imposed if they wanted to sign me, that they have 50% of my rights if I came out for free.

The team is not doing well. Is there a remedy?

Of course there is a remedy. It is a difficult situation and you are at a time when things do not work out. We must be united and keep trying to win games.

How was your debut against Sporting?

He had only one training. Juande was injured and at the break José Alberto told me that he had to come out. And above without heating. I said to myself: oh my! What a premiere! But the truth is that later it went well because it was a good debut. I had good minutes and the team managed to tie the game.

It’s been a short time and I’ve already experienced many things, such as a change of coach.

What things are. I spoke with José Alberto when signing here. And it turns out that another coach leaves and comes. Everything was very turbulent. Since I got here I haven’t had the luck that the team has enjoyed good results.

Missing goal.

The numbers are there. We are missing that.

The team seems united. This Wednesday they had a meal.

At the level of attitude and commitment to the team, nothing can be blamed because we have a perfect group. The dressing room is very united despite the situation we find ourselves in. Those who are not playing are rowing like those who m-as. It’s a bitch how things are going because this team deserves a lot of joy for what we work on every day.

Huesca arrives next Sunday. Another tough opponent.

A relegated team with great players and a big budget. It will be very difficult. They are a great rival who, despite the fact that they are not in the positions they should be due to their squad and economic level, will make things very difficult for us.

Is the team going to shoot up?

We have a good team and a good squad, but things are not going the way we wanted. I think that in the last few games at a positional level we have improved. And at a defensive level and in ball control we have improved a lot. We are lacking to arrive on more occasions or score more goals

How do you see this Second Division?

It is a more unequal year between those at the top, who have many points, and those at the bottom, with few. There are great teams and the Spanish Second Division is one of the best European competitions.

Shall we delete the word ‘ascent’ from the dictionary?

Light man. It’s almost impossible and I think it wouldn’t be healthy to think about it when things are so complicated and the first thing we want is to maintain the category and reach those points that give us peace of mind. It is a very long and very tough competition.

What is the best of Malaga?

The best thing is the costumes and the joy that there is, with control obviously. The relationship we have between us is very good and it is very important. Apart from the dimension of the club at the level of fans, stadium and city. I think that few clubs have it in the Second Division.

And in the future?

What I have in mind is the salvation of Malaga even if he has a contract with Mallorca. And I wish that Mallorca is saved.