Diego Rolán loan rounds off Malaga's summer transfer activity

The striker makes the move from French side Bordeaux on a season-long loan deal but Malaga do not have an option to buy

Antonio Góngora

Thursday, 31 August 2017, 13:21

Striker Diego Rolán is now a Malaga player. He arrived at La Rosaleda on Sunday, passed his medical, and has committed himself to the club until the end of the season. Despite his season-long move, Malaga will not have the option to sign Rolán on a permanent basis at the end of the season.

The formal completion of the move was announced by Malaga CF on Tuesday. According to Malagas director of football, Francesc Arnau, the addition of Rolán to the squad marks the end of this transfer window for Malaga.

Importantly, 24-year-old Rolán passed his medical examination; this was fundamental, given that he recently sustained an injury during a training session with Uruguay. He suffered a small muscle tear in his right leg, however the injury is minor and the striker is set to have a short recovery period, missing only one or two games.

Career in France

Rolán completed his fourth season at the French side this summer, where he has scored 32 goals in 121 games. He will occupy a spot int he squad for a non-EU international, replacinmg Michael Santos, who completed a loan move to tier two side Sporting Gijón earlier in the summer.

The signing of a centre forward was a necessity; until now head coach Míchel only had Borja Bastón, youngster Youssef En-Nesyri and the injured Adalberto Peñaranda in his attacking arsenal, and Rolán looks to be a valuable addition to the Malaga strike force.

On the one hand, he could work alongside Borja Bastón in a two-striker system, an option which may be on Míchels mind as Bastón has looked increasingly isolated up top. On the other, Rolán also works as an effective target man, who could look to hold up the ball and bring the more dynamic players into play.

Rolán should look to take advantage of the two weeks of recovery that he has in front of him. These two weeks will give him a chance to both reach full fitness and to adapt and begin to fit in with his new team mates.

He is likely to miss Malagas game against Las Palmas on Monday 11 September at 9pmas well as the following game expected to be played on Saturday 16 September at Atlético Madrids new stadium, the Wanda Metropolitano.

Just three days later (Tuesday 19 September) Malaga will face Valencia, where Rolán could make his debut for the Blue and Whites.

The Uruguayan will wear the number 24 shirt, made available by defender Luis Hernándezs switch to 4.

Closed for business

After getting much of their business done early in the window, Malaga went into August planning to sign a striker and a central midfielder. They have now done just that with the respective signings of Rolán and Esteban Rolón. This latter, therefore, is likely to mark the end of the transfer window for the club, as was made clear by the director of football who said: The club is closed [for business].

Barring any last-minute surprises, the current 24-man squad will be the one going forward, supplemented by youngsters from the academy, as was the case with Mula who stepped in to make his first-team debut against Girona on Saturday. En-Nesyri, who is still on a youth contract, has featured in both games so far, while José Carlos has also been given a squad number for the new campaign - he inherits the 31 shirt left vacated by Pablo Fornals.

The arrival of Rolán offers Malaga more offensive options. On one hand, he could work alongside Borja Bastón in a two-striker system, an option which may be on Míchels mind as Bastón has looked increasingly isolated up top. On the other hand, Rolán also works as an effective target man, who could look to hold up the ball and bring the more dynamic players into play.

Rolán should look to take advantage of the two weeks of recovery that he has in front of him. These two weeks will give him a chance to reach full fitness as well as to adapt and begin to fit in with his new team mates. He is likely to miss Malagas game against Las Palmas on Monday 11 September at 9pm. Rolán also looks set to miss the following match which is expected to be played on Saturday 16 September at Atlético Madrids new stadium, the Wanda Metropolitano. Just three days later (Tuesday 19 September) Malaga will face Valencia, where Rolán could make his debut for the Blue and Whites.

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