First team

CAPARRÓS: 'WE HAVE A BALANCED SQUAD AND WE'RE HAPPY'

20/08/2018

Regarding Gonalons, the Director of Football stated, 'we needed a player like him. There's no option to buy in the deal but we have a good relationship with Roma and we'll be able to talk about that.'

Joaquín Caparrós started off talking about Gonalons' arrival: 'It's simply a loan for one season, but you all know what football is like and a season is very long. We're able to talk freely with Roma and Monchi and we can talk about any future deal, but for the moment it's just for one year. We needed a player like Gonalons and I think we have a balanced squad, the best squad in the league and the best coaching team. Maybe we still lack a little something but we're very happy.'

The mood is very positive after the first match-day, but there's still work to be done: 'In my experience as a manager, and we talked about it yesterday in Vallecas, it's important to look beyond the starting eleven and look at the bench. Yesterday we had Muriel, Ben Yedder, Amadou or an U21 goalkeeper in Soriano. We're well aware of the fact we want to keep improving and Sevilla is an attractive club for big players. But we're keeping calm as there are a lot more days to come and we'll see what happens.

Caparrós made it clear that André Silva's hat-trick won't change anything regarding the transfer window: 'We have a plan and we act according to it. André's willingness to come here should be underlined as there were other big teams in for him. We value that as he preferred to come to Sevilla over other clubs in the Champions League as a result of the talks we had with him.' Being first in the league doesn't mean anything for the moment, but the team will compete for everything: 'It's in Sevilla's DNA to play for the three points, we'll see where that brings us. We are going to be competitive in every game and we'll see what the league table says.'

Regarding possible signings, he was asked about Boyata and Portu: 'We've been monitoring players and we are able to strengthen the squad if we want to, but we're calm. This is the eighth signing of the window and it shows that we are working hard to improve what we already had. Football never stops being a game and other external factors can come into play, but we're hopeful that everything will go well and we have a great season because we're laying the foundations for it.'

Caparrós doesn't view the fans' wish for more players as something negative: 'This expectation is a sign of a big club. The fans want the team to keep improving and at the end of the day, the results are what count. If we signed those players then we'd have an even better team. These names come up because it's your job as journalists to investigate. We've spoken with a lot of players, but the ones here are here because we wanted them.' Finally, he addressed any out-goings: ´Things are moving a little bit more slowly in this respect but there are still days left in the window and maybe some will have the chance to leave. We're working on it.