Ciprian Marica was presented to the Press recently as a Getafe player He fielded questions and it looked like your typical run of the mill player presentation. Then things changed and suddenly the player was no longer the story. President and maximum shareholder, Angel Torres, announced that he wanted to build a new ground. A 32,000 capacity stadium was the answer to Los Azulones’ problems, he declared. You could hear a pin drop as shocked journalists listened on, trying not to burst out laughing.

Angel Torres wants to sell the club and has been looking for new owners for about five years now. He thought he had reached an agreement with the Royal Emirates Group. After some arguments over whether they were taking over or just investing, it was announced that they were buying the club for €100m. Torres went out and signed rising star Luis Garcia to fill the vacant manager’s role with promises of big money for transfers.

The money never came. Then the Spanish media revealed that a group of hoaxers had been scamming various clubs by pretending to be investors. Getafe was named as one of the clubs, but Torres strongly denied he had been conned. The Royal Emirates Group also claimed last summer that they still planned to invest. Then things went cold and it appears that no-one has a clue as to what has happened.

For Torres, it is was a way to leave the club and leave them in a healthy state. He has met other potential buyers but has come up empty so far. Getafe’s low standing and poor coverage in the media means that most of their stories go ignored.

Torres isn’t new to making some strange outbursts. He claimed a few years ago that Getafe would take over Atletico Madrid’s role as the Spanish capital’s second club. That didn’t really pan out, but he didn’t stop there. He once called his Coach Luis Garcia: “A housewife that wants a new coat every time she leaves the house.” There are plenty more examples, and the jury is still out on whether this latest declaration is another nonsensical outburst or something of substance.

Right now Getafe are in a council owned ground, which seats fewer than 18,000. They have just over 6,000 season ticket holders and Torres claims that they average over 10,000 a game. One reason that the club argue that a new ground is needed is that because fans don’t feel at home at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez. Torres is using Espanyol’s Estadi Cornella-El Prat as an example. Los Periquitos have really made their new home a noisy place. Getafe believe they can do the same and Torres wants it as his swansong.

“Before I leave, I want to make a bigger ground, one for 32,000 spectators and have it full. Mark my word. If I achieve this, and I am going to achieve it, the stadium will be full,” said Torres last week. One thing that is for sure, this is going to be an interesting, and possibly humorous time, to follow Getafe news.

La Liga - Club News