Swansea City striker Borja Baston has already decided that he’s keen to make his season-long loan to Malaga permanent
Swansea City striker Borja Baston has already decided that he’s keen to make his season-long loan to Malaga permanent.
The 24 year-old has yet to put on a competitive boot for the Spanish club, but yet he’s already decided that he wants to extend his stay further.
His comments seem strange, as the ink has barely dried on the paperwork that saw him complete his return to La Liga after struggling to impress in the Premier League during the 2016/17 season.
The Spaniard arrived last Summer with huge promise and potential from Atletico Madrid, but the £15.5m record signing couldn’t earn a regular starting place, and scored just one goal in the 3-2 away defeat at Arsenal during Bob Bradley’s forgetful 11-game reign.
His spell at the Liberty Stadium really has been a mystery so far. He scored 18 goals during a loan at La Liga side Eibar before he joined us, but instead he looked like your typical Swansea City loan striker signing that failed to deliver or impress.
He was given a brief chance under Francesco Guidolin, and showed some potential in the 2-1 home defeat against Liverpool – the Italian’s final game in charge, but he missed some decent chances in that game and was never given the opportunity to adjust and get used to a new way of playing.
Despite a frustrating first year in South Wales, Borja never showed his frustration and backed his team-mates during their battle against relegation. However, his comments this week are baffling, as he speaks out about hoping the permanent move option in his loan is taken:
‘It wasn’t the experience that I thought, but everything is experience and I draw good conclusions,’
‘To make a good year, everything matters.
‘It was not like I expected. I arrived with a wrist injury that I suffered in pre-season with Atletico and I didn’t play until week seven or eight. I was not happy, but I learned from it.’
It looks like Borja has already written off his Swansea City future:
‘I would like the purchase option exercised (at Malaga),’
‘The important thing is to start and make it a great year, the rest will follow.
‘Negotiations are always difficult but Malaga was one that was attractive to me. I want to be somewhere they want me, and here they loved me a lot.
‘Many things seduced me for the project, the intention has been great from Malaga, their project has a mixture of youth and veterans of high quality.’
