Sevilla ushered in a new dawn this summer, after former Las Palmas and Barcelona academy manager Francisco Javier Garcia Pimienta was appointed their new coach. Just two months into the new season, he was handed a new deal amid a strong desire to paint matters in a positive light, but Los Nervionenses are yet to put two wins in a row together in La Liga.
That can largely be explained by their struggles up front. At the beginning of the season, Sevilla looked somewhat disjointed, but things were starting to look up courtesy of wide-men Chidera Ejuke and Dodi Lukebakio, providing some electricity to their attack. No doubt Ejuke would have been one of the favourites on the Nigerian football betting sites to be included in the Super Eagles squad for AFCON 2025.
However since Ejuke suffered a hamstring injury, ruling him out until at least February, Sevilla have lost some life, and while Lukebakio continues to score, the same cannot be said for their other forwards. He has six goals to his name, and remains their top scorer by a distance. On the other hand, strikers Isaac Romero and Kelechi Iheanacho are yet to score in La Liga.
The latter, like Ejuke, was a gamble from Sporting Director Victor Orta on a free but with larger wages, and already there are stories about Iheanacho leaving the club. So far this season, Iheanacho has made 5 starts and 7 appearances, with 355 minutes between them. He is without a goal contribution so far though, and notably blazed over with the goal gaping against Real Sociedad.
Interestingly, it is another Nigerian forward going through a dry spell, La Real’s Umar Sadiq, that has been named as one of the options to replace Iheanacho. The contrast between Ejuke and Iheanacho illustrates part of the issues for Los Nervionenses going forward this season though. Currently, they are not in a place financially where they can spend much, and thus their transfer policy will likely be focused on younger players and gambles.
So far though, Orta has not shown a strong enough hit-rate to be able to say that the squad will take definitive steps forward in the coming months or next season. Another fine example being the addition of veteran Sergio Ramos, who became a de facto starter, and the recruitment of Mariano Diaz, both on free deals after the transfer deadline. The latter’s impact was similar to that of Iheanacho so far.
Sevilla have always been a club willing to sell their top players, but after Lucas Ocampos, Marcos Acuna and Youssef En-Nesyri departed this summer, they have not shown sufficient prowess to prove they can replace them. Until they do, it will be tricky for Garcia Pimienta or any manager to turn them back into a European contender.
