Chapter 84: The Direction of the Youth Team
Vázquez resigned. José returned.
The news caused a moderate stir in La Liga.
It shouldn't have been such big news, really. Sure, Mallorca had been ranked among the world's top eight teams in 1999 due to their impressive performances, even if they were at the bottom of that list. That was still an incredible achievement. But at the end of the day, this was a team that had been in the Segunda División just two seasons ago. They were, at best, a mid-table club. And in a football world where managers get sacked like it's a daily routine, a coaching change at a mid-table club wasn't exactly groundbreaking.
However, José's results from last season had been too remarkable to ignore. Add to that the spectacle of a club's majority shareholder taking over as manager, and it was no surprise that Mallorca had the media buzzing for days.
For many, this was great news.
At Mallorca's B-team training base, two players had been left in limbo.
At the end of last season, they had been sent back to the reserves. Technically, their contracts still tied them to the B team. And when Vázquez took over, he completely ignored Mallorca B—the squad that had practically been José's private garden. Even when the first team was short on players, he never even considered calling up reinforcements from the reserves.
Thiago Motta and Albert Luque had gained valuable experience from training with the first team and playing in the UEFA Cup. Their performances in the Segunda División had only improved. But the thrill was gone.
After experiencing the adrenaline of a European final, how could they get excited about second-division football again?
So while Mallorca B was performing well—staying in the top six of the Segunda since the start of the season—Luque and Motta were growing more and more frustrated.
Motta, being just 18, could still afford to be patient. But Luque was running out of time. His performances in the Segunda had drawn attention from various clubs in both La Liga and the Segunda. Despite not having an agent yet, scouts had already begun approaching him.