Villarreal have confirmed their third exit in as many days following the departures of Paco Alcacer and Pervis Estupinan. Boulaye Dia only arrived last summer, but he leaves the club on loan to Salernitana.
Dia, 25, arrived for around €12m last summer after some promising seasons at Reims, but failed to make the desired impact at Villarreal. Contributing to just 12 goals in 35 appearances, by the end of the season he had become a back-up option.
Fabrizio Romano reports that Dia’s loan deal will be worth €1m and their option to buy is worth €12m. Given his disappointing campaign, if they made a profit on Dia it would represent good business.
The Yellow Submarine may well move for a forward now following the departures of both Dia and Alcacer. While Yeremy Pino, Gerard Moreno, Arnaut Danjuma can all play through the middle, none are natural number nines in the same sense of the forwards they have let go.