Sevilla boss Michel has ruled out a short-to-medium term signing to replace the injured Piotr Trochowski, who is out for the season.
The German international midfielder is currently in the United States where he has undergone an operation on a serious knee injury after a cartilage had become detached.
“We have a 23-man squad but we won’t be signing anyone unless we come across an absolute bargain or somebody on a free transfer. It is very difficult.
“We don’t know how Trochowski’s injury is going to turn out. It could force him out of the game but I spoke to him after the operation.
“He is a stubborn German, very positive, ready for anything and is seeing what is the best way to go about his rehabilitation and what he will do about it,” Michel told a Friday Press conference, where he also commented on the form of Alvaro Negredo and revealed his thoughts on Jose Antonio Reyes.
“Negredo is a very important player for us, not only for his goals. He is doing extra work to improve his physical fitness and it shows. He has got six in eight games and is carrying on from where he left off at the end of last season.”
“In Reyes’ case I know it will sound as if I’m not telling the truth but the reality is that I’m a big fan of his. If I wasn’t he wouldn’t have made the effort to get himself fit and lose weight.
“He is a magnificent player who will have to change his role [in the side] and he will be better for it. He is doing that.
“I know he will get angry and say things in private about me for leaving him out of the squad, but he trusts me to run the rule over him and that’s fine.”
Michel was also asked about this weekend’s game at Real Zaragoza and coming across former Sevilla boss Manolo Jimenez.
“They [Zaragoza] are a team that has been through a bad time and resolved it through character and competitiveness. That is what Manolo’s teams are all about so I think we’d best leave the statistics to one side.
“For us to go to La Romareda thinking it is going to be easy would be a big mistake,” he concluded.
