Pepe Mel already has his joker

New year, new template. Or almost. With the arrival of 2021, less than 48 hours already, Pepe Mel adds a remarkable number of troops to the cause of Unión Deportiva Las Palmas. Meet Ángel López, his second coach, acknowledged that the return to activity after the Christmas break should bring with it the recovery and return of important footballers in their schemes such as Sergio Ruiz, Pejiño, Araujo or Ale Díez, who were injured.

Precisely, the return of the latter, a versatile defender from Cáceres with the same guarantees of high performance, it does not matter if it is on the right side as the left, this one of the most celebrated by Mel himself. It happens that Diez fell struck down by physical problems on October 3, when Logroñés lost at the Gran Canaria Stadium. It was the 41st minute of the game, and that day right back was immediately replaced by Eric Curbelo.

Two days later, the pertinent medical tests discovered that Díez, who arrived at zero cost last summer in Las Palmas after ending his contract with Extremadura, suffered a Jones fracture in the fifth metatarsal of his left foot, which forced him to undergo surgery. Initially, they forecast around three months of decline.

Even if they were not known in advance, the forecasts could be met almost exactly. They 'nailed'. So, Diez has been exercising as one more under Pepe Mel since Las Palmas returned to training on Monday after the Christmas break. This has also been expressed by the footballer through his profiles on social networks, and It is not ruled out that he will be summoned to the duel with Espanyol this Sunday, January 3, in Gran Canaria.

“It makes us better,” insists his coach. His reappearance couldn't be more timely for you. In his absence, the yellow coaching staff considered for many weeks the possibility of using Cristian Cedrés as a right lane, perhaps when Lemos was not available. Thus he played, for example, against Alcorcón and Varea. Given the serious injury to the end of Carrizal, the return of Díez adds troops to the cause and to a position discovered for months. It could well even seat Dani Castellano and Jonathan Silva in the fight for the left side of the rear. And it is that Pepe Mel already has his wild card.