Pity poor Diddy David Silva and his very sucky summer.
At one point it all looked so promising for the midfielder-forward type thing - with dreams of a spectacular World Cup followed by a move to Real Madrid or Manchester United.
Instead, being a little off the pace against Switzerland saw Silva replaced by pretty much everyone else in the Spain squad, who then prevented him from setting foot on the pitch against Portugal by refusing to kick the ball out.
Even worse for the born-and-bred Mestalla man, Real MadridâÂÂs continued aversion to signing sensational Spanish players when future flops like Angel di MarÃÂa can be snapped up for a similar fee, and Manchester UnitedâÂÂs credit crunch sees Silva swapping Champions League football at Valencia for...er...football with Manchester City in a reported â¬35m deal.
It fulfils the warning of Valencia president, Manuel Llorente, that anyone of any value at Mestalla will be flogged to help the clubâÂÂs eternal battle against bankruptcy.
David Villa has gone to Barcelona, Nikola Zigic to Birmingham and now SilvaâÂÂs sale sees some â¬80 odd million flowing into the Mestalla coffers - a figure that should see the club through until at least Christmas unless someone goes nuts in Ikea in the meantime.
âÂÂSometimes [the decisions] will be unpopular and unpleasant, but theyâÂÂve got to be taken,â shrugged Llorente looking menacingly at Juan MataâÂÂs photograph. âÂÂWe need money to pay debts and give to our creditors.âÂÂ
The one splurge from Valencia was â¬10m on the gormless-goalgetter, Roberto Soldado from Getafe, who has some mighty big boots to fill with David VillaâÂÂs departure.
The Coliseum club have, in turn, picked up Angel Arizmendi on a free from Zaragoza, making the triple-move a sofa for a lampshade for an ashtray to use Rafa BenÃÂtezâ famous rating system.
Another club suffering financial harship is Mallorca, however the plucky Primera outfit have just been bought out by a consortium that includes the Rafa Nadal clan and is expected to announce the return of the mighty sex-god Michael Laudrup as their new boss.
AS write that the deal fronted by former Barça maanger and Mallorca local lad, Serrer Ferrer, saw the club picked up for a mere â¬2m but with a debt of around â¬60m and the chance of the current administration process barring the 5th-placed finishing outfit from the Europa League, things are still a little bleak in the Balearics.
Málaga have also been through a takeover, with the squillionaire Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Al-Thani now running the show after a â¬36m buy-out deal. The former president, Fernando Sanz, now becomes sporting director with ex-Porto boss Jesualdo Ferreira taking over as manager.
But fans expecting Málaga to become the sea-siding, pleasant climate, plenty-of-space-for-a-yacht, footballers-donâÂÂt-need-to-lie-about-how-happy-they-are-to-move version of Man City will be somewhat disappointed with a spokesman claiming that âÂÂrather than buying superstars, we intend to make them.âÂÂ
July 1st sees the handover of power between Joan âÂÂJoanâ Laporta and newbie club president Sandro Rosell at Barcelona. However, the former King of Cataluyna has sent a warning to his successor that he may be back - especially if his political career has as much success as the signing of Dmytro Chygrynskiy.
âÂÂBeing the president of the best Barça in history inspires you to try again,â mused the ever modest Laporta.
Meanwhile, the local press have been running two months of Cesc/Touré/Zlatan is coming/going/staying stories without admitting that they havenâÂÂt got much of a clue what is happening at the Camp Nou.
Over in Capital City, MarcaâÂÂs love affair over José Mourinho shows no sign of cooling. Last week the paper reported that Real Madrid had agreed to take half of their managerâÂÂs image rights with Marca gasping that âÂÂhis fixed, penetrating stare and his strong, deep voice make him distinct.âÂÂ
On Thursday, the paper had nothing but praise for the Portuguese managerâÂÂs support for Cristiano Ronaldo after his hilarious World Cup disaster. âÂÂMourinho has demonstrated with another great gesture that he knows perfectly how to fulfil the role of a managerâ gushes the editorial.
âÂÂBut more than a manager, [the Madrid squad] now has a father, a confessor and a counsellor. There are coaches who just coach on the pitch and work day-to-day. But not Mourinho. Mourinho leads everything and never rests. CR9 knows this."
The final disappointing news from todayâÂÂs info-burst is that Atlético Madrid are making like Calum Best and spending much of their summer chasing Fanni.
That's Rennes fullback Rod Fanni, of course - The Frenchman has reportedly cancelled meetings, fiffed and faffed and left mere snatches of information for the Rojiblanco as to whether he wants to sign for them or not.
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