Almería have found themselves in the spotlight after a long absence as they topped the second division after a 2-2 draw on Sunday with Leganes.
Almería returned to the first division after a 7-year absence, during which he signed 14 coaches and had two presidents, for a total of 124 deals, whether it was a purchase, loan or free transfer. Almeria have been close to promotion to La Liga for the previous two seasons.
And that’s after making special deals and contracts with great coaches since its purchase by Chancellor Turki Al Sheikh, head of the Entertainment Authority, on August 2, 2019, to become its largest shareholder and owner.
The team failed to return to La Liga after being relegated on 24 May 2015 following a 2-3 defeat to Valencia as former club president Alfonso Garcia failed to bring him back into the league. in the spotlight for over four years.
And this is before he left his post after 16 years (from 2003 to 2019), during which he achieved a number of achievements with Almeria, such as eighth place in the League (season 2007/2008), reaching the semi-finals of the Royal Cup in 2011 and was promoted twice in 2007 and 2013.
new era
In Almería’s final seasons with Garcia, the team finished tenth in the second division before Chancellor Turki Al-Sheikh came along and began a new, more ambitious era with huge investments that returned the team to competitiveness.
During the reign of Chancellor Turki Al Sheikh, Almería entered the promotion cycle twice to reserve the third and final qualifying spot for the lights in the last two seasons.
But his efforts were unsuccessful before he managed to win the second division title this season with 81 points, just like Valladolid who accompanied him into the world.
This time the achievement was achieved under the guidance of coach Juan Francesc Ferrer “Ruby”, the sixth manager hired by Al-Sheikh since his presidency of the club.
Almería’s most notable deal this season was the signing of Uruguayan Darwin Nunez for €13m to Peñarol.
This is in addition to the inclusion of Arvin Appiah (€8.85m), Lucar Roberton (€6.40m), Samo Costa (€5.25m), Omar Sadek (€5m) and José Carlos Lazo (€4m). ).
Almería also received income from the sale of Nunez to Benfica for €24 million and the transfer of Mano Morlanes to Villarreal for €4 million.
Desire to be the center of attention
Despite drawing in the last round (2-2) in Leganés, Almería received a gift from Alcorcon, who stunned their guest Eibar with a goal in stoppage time.
Almeria maintained a consistent level throughout the season and stayed for 37 rounds in the direct qualifying positions for the League of Fire before being rocked in the last five rounds of the competition to return to additional positions, but rose to realize the direct qualifying card.
The mentality of the team has completely changed in the last two seasons and they have set their sights on playing in the spotlight.
But things didn’t go well at first due to several factors, most notably a lack of player experience that forced Almeria into the play-offs and Girona was eliminated twice before he managed to reach his goal. this season.
Clubs Eibar, Las Palmas, Tenerife, Girona will go through a promotion cycle to determine the third team that will advance to La Liga.
