Real Mallorca and Canada star Cyle Larin has told Football España that his decision to head to the island this summer was based on the growth of the club.
The Canadian international spent the second half of last season at Real Valladolid, and nearly kept them up with a brilliant impact, scoring 8 times in 19 appearances. Larin was thought to be on the shortlist of as many as seven Spanish clubs during the summer, including the likes of Valencia, Real Betis and Osasuna, with the latter two in European competition.
However Larin opted to move to Mallorca, and explained why he chose Los Bermellones.
“I believed in the project they were trying to build here, I believed in the team, the players that were currently here, and those arriving, they’re adding to the stadium. They finished well last year, and just to build off last year, and finish higher in the table.”
“Also the growth of the club, to build and to become better each season. Last year they finished ninth, I watched them last year and they had a lot of opportunities to score, and just building off that.”
It’s not been the ideal start just yet though. Taking part in all but one of their nine games, Larin has only started once, and is yet to score, totalling just 242 minutes of action.
In addition, manager Javier Aguirre has been public about his disappointment in Larin’s finishing. He also revealed he had discussed Larin’s fitness with the former Besiktas forward, and claims that only in the last two games has he hit the shape that Aguirre wants from him.
Asked how things were working under Aguirre, Larin was short and sweet.
“I’ve only had a few months to work with him, and step by step, I’ll learn the new system, and become better on the pitch.”
If Aguirre can find the balance between Larin and Vedat Muriqi, he could have a fearsome frontline. Muriqi was Mallorca’s top scorer last season with 16 goals, but so far Abdon Prats has kept Larin on the sidelines with 4 goals of his own. If Canada’s record goalscorer can get going though, Mallorca will be one of the few sides in La Liga to be able to call on two lethal finishers.
Watch LALIGA on Viaplay, available in the UK on Sky, Virgin TV, Amazon Prime Video and via streaming.
