10 La Liga Players We'd Love to See in the Champions League Next Season
There are a lot of seriously talented La Liga players who didn't play UEFA Champions League football this season.
Players who could become prime summer transfer targets for, say, English Premier League clubs or Spain's bigger teams. Atletico Madrid have, for example, been canny in recent years in hoovering up some of La Liga's best young players like Antoine Griezmann (Real Sociedad, 2014) and Rodri (Villarreal, 2018).
With one eye on next season, we've put together a list of 10 footballers—based on their recent performances and progress—who we believe could consistently deliver on club football's biggest stage. It's not a definitive list: The likes of Djene (Getafe), Pau Torres (Villarreal) and Portu (Real Sociedad) are unlucky to miss out, but these players are all ones to watch.
Chimy Avila, 26, Centre-Forward
Osasuna
La Liga's biggest cult hero this season has undoubtedly been Chimy Avila. It's like he dropped from the sky. As the spearhead in newly promoted Osasuna's attack, he scored nine goals in 20 league games before cruelly picking up a cruciate ligament injury in January against Levante.
Avila scores all kinds of goals with his barrelling strength and street-acquired ingenuity—goals with his head, volleys, lobs and improvised gems. He's a ferocious competitor who admits he "plays every game like it's his last."
Arguably, no other player in the league has a back story like his: He grew up on the mean streets of Rosario, an Argentinian city famous, of course, for being the factory that produced Lionel Messi and several other contemporary stars of the European club game. However, Avila had it harder than any of them; at 18 he was still scratching a living by selling cardboard on the streets of Rosario.
He won't lack the fight to overcome a serious knee injury. It's that warrior spirit and his goalscoring prowess that have him on the radar of some big clubs.
Linked with: Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Sevilla
Inigo Martinez, 28, Centre-Back
Athletic Bilbao
When Athletic Bilbao exercised Inigo Martinez's €32 million buyout clause and lured him across the great Basque footballing divide from Real Sociedad in January 2018, it caused more than a stir. Martinez more than doubled his salary by moving to the richer Athletic, and he bolstered their defence considerably.
Martinez has been the wall that has led to the club having the third-meanest defence in La Liga this season—behind both Madrid clubs—and in helping their march towards a mouth-watering all-Basque Copa del Rey final against Real Sociedad. He's also been chosen as the most regular partner for Sergio Ramos at the heart of Spain's defence in their qualification campaign for UEFA Euro 2021.
Athletic are unlikely to qualify for next season's UEFA Champions League competition—and less likely to sell Martinez—although he definitely has the pedigree and the grit to eat at Europe's top table.
Linked with: Previously Manchester City but unlikely to be allowed move by Athletic
Gerard, 28, Centre-Forward
Villarreal
Gerard Moreno—or Gerard, as he's known—has been a late bloomer. He only made his full international debut for Spain earlier in the season at 27 years of age, but in three appearances for La Roja, he's scored three goals.
His form at club level for Villarreal has been good, too—an impressive 11 goals in 25 games, which is a better scoring rate than his strike partner, Paco Alcacer. His goalscoring is the primary reason Villarreal are still in the hunt for a place in European competition next season—they are in eighth place, seven points off a UEFA Europa League spot.
Having grown up in Catalonia, where he played for Espanyol's youth academy teams and later for three years with the club's first team, Gerard is hitting his peak. It would be fascinating to see him mix it in the UEFA Champions League.
Linked with: Atletico Madrid
Marc Cucurella, 21, Left-Back/Left-Midfielder
Getafe
Marc Cucurella's stock keeps shooting skywards. It's a question of when not if he makes his full Spain international debut. It was a surprise that Barcelona let him go out on loan this season to Getafe, deciding instead to bring in Junior Firpo—who has looked out of his depth—as the club's back-up left-back.
Cucurella has excelled at Getafe, where his game has broadened. Having been schooled at La Masia's tiki-taka school, he's added more steel and defensive rigour to his game at the notoriously defensively minded Getafe. He's the kind of defender any manager would want on their team. He'll stop at nothing—even if that entails some dark arts—to prevent an opponent's attacking moves, and he's a whirlwind on the counter-attack.
Getafe—who exercised an option to buy Cucurella from Barcelona in March—have put a €25 million buyout clause on his head, with Barca retaining 40 per cent of his future transfer fee. It's a shrewd investment by Getafe, who may well be playing UEFA Champions League football themselves next season—even if they don't cash in on him during the summer.
Linked with: Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid
Oscar, 21, Attacking Midfielder
Leganes (on loan from Real Madrid)
Outside of Spain, Oscar may be one of the league's most underestimated footballers. Remarkably, for example, his scoring rate from free-kicks is on a par with Messi's.
Oscar's goals—seven in the league this season from open play and dead-ball situations—have given Leganes, who are mired in the relegation zone, the slenderest of lifelines. Though they may not be enough after the club were cruelly stripped of star strikers, Youssef En-Nesyri and Martin Braithwaite, during the winter transfer window, with Sevilla and Barcelona triggering their buyout clauses, respectively.
This is Oscar's second season out on loan from Real Madrid; he's part of a queue that includes players such as Kubo and Achraf Hakimi. Will Oscar return to his boyhood club? Real Madrid may well bring him back as a squad player next season—in the way they have done previously with the likes of other homegrown players, Jose Callejon and Lucas Vazquez.
Likely to return to parent club Real Madrid
Nabil Fekir, 26, Attacking Midfielder
Real Betis
It was a surprise when Real Betis signed Nabil Fekir—who was linked closely with a potential £52 million move to Liverpool—in the summer of 2019. There is no doubt the World Cup winner has the skill to mix it on the biggest stage, as he's proved his class several times this season in games against La Liga's strongest teams.
Notable moments include the opening goal he scored against Barcelona at the Benito Villamarin Stadium in February, and few will forget, too, the way he terrorised Real Madrid's defence in a memorable 2-1 victory shortly before the coronavirus-induced suspension of the league.
Interestingly, Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane has been a longtime admirer. One of the standout features of Fekir's game is the lightness of his touch. It's like he can make the ball come to rest magically at his feet. The big question mark about him is his ability to deliver week in, week out.
Linked with: Arsenal, Real Madrid
Martin Odegaard, 21, Attacking Midfielder
Real Sociedad (on loan from Real Madrid)
The question on the lips of many Real Madrid fans—and practically all of Real Sociedad's supporters—is whether Real Madrid will allow the Basque club to complete their two-year loan deal of Martin Odegaard or if it will be cut short this summer.
After a premature start in La Liga—he made his debut as a 16-year-old with Real Madrid in 2015—Odegaard has found his feet and been a revelation this season. When Real Sociedad play, it's hard to take your eyes off him: his footwork—particularly the elegant left foot—his poise and his range of passing are all impressive.
The only quibble is with his stamina—he tends to tire towards the last quarter of matches. There's also the doubt as to whether Real Madrid have room for another No. 10 in their squad, which may depend on who else they might sign this summer.
If Odegaard stays at Real Sociedad, don't rule out the Norway international making his full Champions League debut with the club—who are fourth in the league table—next season.
On loan at Real Sociedad again next season, but Real Madrid could cut deal short.
Mikel Oyarzabal, 22, Winger
Real Sociedad
Along with Fabian Ruiz—who was snapped up by Napoli a couple of seasons ago—Mikel Oyarzabal is probably the most coveted young Spanish-born footballer in the game.
Oyarzabal has everything: two feet, mesmerising dribbling skill and an eye for the back of the net. With eight goals and seven assists this season, few other players in La Liga—with the exception of, say, Lionel Messi and Karim Benzema—are as productive. And few are as thrilling to watch.
Oyarzabal is one of several young players who have made Real Sociedad the most exciting team to watch this season in La Liga, and it will be really enjoyable to see him grace the UEFA Champions League next season—either with Real Sociedad or one of Europe's bigger clubs.
Linked with: Barcelona, Manchester City, Real Madrid
Inaki Williams, 25, Centre-Forward
Athletic Bilbao
When he's in the mood, there is no one as electrifying as Inaki Williams in La Liga. He terrorises defences with his unrivalled speed. It's a mystery how he hasn't added to the solitary cap he has for Spain. Yet to peak in his career, more international appearances will inevitably come.
Williams has endured a difficult season—especially after being the centre of a racist incident at Espanyol's RCDE ground in January, which led to the banning of 12 Espanyol fans from the stadium. However, his injury-time winner against Barcelona in the Copa del Rey quarter-final in February was the most precious act of any Athletic player this season.
Athletic nailed down Williams to a nine-year contract renewal last summer and increased his buyout clause to €135 million, which will be too pricey in what will likely be a deflationary summer transfer market. Therefore, we may unfortunately have to wait to see him debut in the UEFA Champions League.
Linked with: Manchester United before signing new deal
Raul de Tomas, 25, Centre-Forward
Espanyol
Espanyol put an end to Raul de Tomas' nightmare Portuguese adventure when the club signed him from Benfica during the winter transfer window. De Tomas had failed to score in seven league games for Benfica.
Espanyol were throwing the dice: The €20 million they forked out for him is a club-record transfer fee. In De Tomas, they believed they had a striker who could help miraculously drag them off the foot of the table—for several years, he was a bright prospect in Real Madrid's youth academy and a consistent goalscorer for Rayo Vallecano during two seasons with the club.
De Tomas hasn't disappointed, banging in four valuable goals in six games before picking up an injury in February. Espanyol still aren't out of the woods, and their chances of survival are slim. If they do get relegated, someone will come in for De Tomas, that's for sure.
Unlikely to move unless Espanyol get relegated
Follow Richard on Twitter: @Richard_Fitz
.png?w=600 "New NBA Mock Draft 📝")
.jpg?w=600 "Offseason Moves for Every Team 👉")
