Málaga gain depth from the cupboard with a double signing

Málaga Club de Fútbol

Málaga's board is still pressing the accelerator with just 48 hours left before the transfer window closes. In addition to today's signings, the club has also made official the loan of Aznou with a B-team registration. This last point opens the possibility of another last-minute addition, since, as Radio Marca Málaga has reported, if that route goes through, Málaga would try to sign a winger taking advantage of the spot freed up in the professional squad registration that the Moroccan full-back would have occupied, in a market where the squad already totals 24 players in the first team and is awaiting the resolution of the future of other first-team players such as Lobete or Arriaza.

Cajuste, a physical midfielder with international experience

Jens Cajuste has been at Napoli since 2023, although he has spent the last two seasons on loan at the Ipswich Town, where he first played in the Premier League and then in the Championship after the team's relegation in the 2024/2025 season. In addition, Cajuste has also had spells in Ligue 1 in France with the Reims and in Denmark with the Midtjylland, which is the club where he really broke out on the international stage by winning that country's league and playing the Champions League.

The Martiricos side had been chasing a midfielder with a physical profile for weeks, a position that at first pointed to Nemanja Gudelj. However, his high wage demands ruled out that option and shifted the focus to Cajuste. In just four days, negotiations were accelerated to a full agreement: according to Gianluca Di Marzio, the deal is set to be completed as a loan with a buy option fixed at 8 million euros. The Swede will travel to Spain in the coming hours to complete the medical check and its subsequent officialisation.

Berrocal, a lifeline for Funes

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Juan Berrocal
570.000€+240.000€ ?

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Berrocal arrives as a ambidextrous centre-back who allows him to play in either of the two centre-back positions, something that fits like a glove with Málaga's current situation. Diego Murillo, the reference centre-back and leader in the promotion push, tore his meniscus in the return leg of the promotion playoff against Almería and will not be available in the coming matches. Meanwhile, Álex Pastor continues recovering from a cruciate ligament rupture that kept him out of action for the whole of last season, and Fernando Calero picked up an injury during pre-season and missed the start of the league campaign. With that scenario, Einar Galilea and the youth player Ángel Recio have practically been the only centre-backs Funes could count on, so Berrocal does not arrive to fight for a spot immediately, but instead comes to give Funes a reliable option he did not have up to now.

Funes adds 2 profiles he needs

With Cajuste and Berrocal, Málaga covers at the same time its two most obvious holes in the squad. On the one hand, with Cajuste they gain a physical pivot with a good first touch and ability to carry the ball out, ideal to give rest to Izan Merino or to step into midfield if Izan himself has to drop back into the defence, as has been seen on other occasions. On the other hand, Berrocal arrives as an alternative in a back line where absences have left the team with the smallest possible margin. In this way, both reinforcements arrive at the right time, after picking up only one point out of the nine available following a draw with Deportivo de A Coruña and defeats to Atlético and Real Madrid. Added to the loan of Aznou at left-back and the possible arrival of a winger on the final day of the window, these two signings, in principle, complete Martiricos' business for this transfer window.