Only 10 players have reportedly committed their futures to Elche as the threat of relegation continues to cast a dark shadow over the club.
Los Franjiverdes comfortably avoided the drop last season, having secured a 13th-place finish, but they still owe €8m to the Spanish tax office Hacienda and have struggled to pay their players’ wages.
Although they failed to show any funds, Elche had their guarantee accepted before a May 28 deadline and are currently in the process of negotiating a deal with Hacienda and the LFP.
According to Marca, Coach Fran Escriba and sporting director Victor Orta have intimated that they will stay on in their respective roles, providing the club are not demoted.
Among their squad, only David Lomban, Aaron Niguez, Alvaro Gimenez , Victor Rodriguez, Adrian Gonzalez, Jose Angel Alonso, Garry Rodrigues, Pedro Mosquera, Faycal Fajr, Cristian Herrera and Edu Albacar have vowed to fulfil their contracts.
Nevertheless, their futures at Elche are also subject to whether the club remain in the top flight as they could file transfer requests in the worst case scenario.
However, Manu Herrera, Damian Suarez, Sergio Pelegrin and Ferran Corominas, all of whom helped the team earn promotion to La Liga in 2013, have been released, while loanees Przemyslaw Tyton and Mario Pasalic will return to their parent clubs.
Domingo Cisma is also out of contract this summer, but he could still be offered a new deal by the club, given that he was a regular starter in 2014-15.
On the other hand, Elche are ready to turn their loan arrangements for Enzo Roco and Jonathas permanent, although keeping the latter may prove difficult.
Chilean defender Roco is expected to commit to the Valencians, but Diario Informacion claims Jonathas and his agent have already offered to pay off the striker’s contract so he can join another team.
However, Elche are believed to have rejected the proposal and still intend to sign the Brazilian, who scored 14 League goals last term, for €1.5m from Italian side Pescara on a four-year contract, with a release clause of €20m.
Elche’s situation bears similarities with that of English Championship club Blackpool last summer as the Tangerines began pre-season with only nine contracted players and no goalkeeper.
