It’s not been an easy year at Celta Vigo so far, with Rafael Benitez’s arrival not bringing the expected bump in performance. Os Celeste will spend the Christmas period in the relegation zone, two points shy of safety.
He is not the only one to have disappointed either. Their most expensive signing Anastasios Douvikas has struggled to convince Benitez that he deserves minutes, while their second-most expensive signing, Carles Perez has disappeared from the frame. He was one of their best players last season while on loan from Roma, and Celta paid €5.2m to make that deal permanent. Yet he has played just 6 times this season, amounting to 342 minutes.
“He is recovering his physical level, but he is not the explosive and very fast Carles that you saw. He has had an injury, he has had his problems and little by little he has to recover his level. Those things have to be seen in training,” Relevo quote Benitez.
According to their information, the two have not been seeing eye to eye, with Benitez demanding more effort from him. Celta hope to see the best of him after the break, but Benitez feels he is not in the requisite shape to be effective.
It’s further bad news for Celta. Given how much of a struggle their season has been, they can scarcely afford for one of their best forwards to be laying dormant. Perez has rarely been accused of being anything other than a model professional until now, but Benitez must find a way to get him into shape.
