Once again, the title of this blog post is not a typo. We have a lot to be thankful to Real Madrid for. I have returned Mallorca to European football for the first time since the 2002/03 season. This was, in large part, thanks to Real Madrid’s succes in the Copa del Rey meaning that the final European qualification place extended down to 7th place in the league.
I’ve done the classic FM blogger thing and I sit down to write this update a number of weeks after completing the season. Real life work has been busy and I’ve had to rumble through the memory bank to summon up the emotions I felt as this season progressed.
THE BEST SEASON YET
It’s undoubtedly been my best season to date in the save. Continuing with my successful 4-2-3-1 that I introduced last year, we got off to a relatively successful start in the season. Consistency was the struggle once more, our impressive start couldn’t be maintained and we made our way through the peaks and troughs of the season.
The season really began to turn after the winter break with a few wins in the early rounds of Copa del Rey managing to help us build confidence. As it happens we made it all the way to the Semi Final before falling to a 4-2 aggregate loss to our eventual heroes Real Madrid.
The 5-2 win over Levante was the game which secured our 7th place finish at their and Atlético Madrid’s expense.
TRANSFER BUSINESS
Summer 2025
We continued to rely quite heavily on loan signings in this season, although it was perhaps not quite as bad as in previous years.
Bruno Méndez and Luka Romero returned for their third consecutive seasons on loan with Mallorca. Bruno has been a dependable first teamer for us but will not be returning next season as he has now agreed a pre-contract deal with Ajax, despite our best efforts to keep him at Son Moix. Luka Romero pushed himself into a first team place for us, starting 42 games over the course of the season. Lazio want to give him a chance in the first team, however, I won’t rule out making a move for him if this doesn’t work out.
Jonathan Fröhlich returned for a second season on loan from our unofficial parent club Bayern. 44 starts and 15 goals from his position as AML is a great return for us.
The final loanee of the season is Tunisian midfielder Hannibal from Manchester United. Although noted as a natural central midfielder, I made the decision to play him as a Winger in the AMR slot. It’s a role he has all the necessary attributes for and he performed admirably. Only 5 assists but 7 goals and a 7.00 average rating in his 29 starts.
I made three permanent signings in this window - promising attacking midfielder Osvaldo Katiavala joined from Pacos de Ferreira for £1.6m. At 6’3” he is exactly the sort of player I am looking for to help boost our advantage from set pieces.
Two experienced players also entered the fray. £1.7m was paid to Lazio for the services of Serge Aurier who was a very able back up for Bruno Méndez. £1.3m to Monaco for Wissam Ben Yedder seemed like good business. He played the role of super sub on a few occasions but was never expected to be much more at 35 years old.
The biggest departure of note in this summer was Shane Duffy who refused to extend his contract and subsequently returned to England to join Blackburn on a free. Also heading that way was promising left back Emmanuel Kalu - an academy graduate in my first season.
Winter 2026
Unbelievably there was no notable transfer business in this winter winter. None whatsoever… strange.
THE BIG HITTERS IN A SUCCESSFUL SEASON
Goalkeeper Dominik Grief made the most appearances with 45 starts, conceding 62 goals but managing to keep 19 clean sheets.
Gabriel Vidovic was our top goalscorer with 19 goals in his 32 appearances. Jonathan Fröhlich was second with 15 goals while Luka Romero came third with 9.
Luke Romero headed up the assists chart with 9 assists, leading from Jonathan Fröhlich’s 8. In joint third place was emerging talent Andreu Barba and set piece maestro Danilo Cataldi on 6 assists each.
2026 NXGN AWARD UPDATE
It’s now become almost common place to see a Mallorca name or two in this list. 2026 offers you a full four!
20 year old Colombian centre back has really grown into his role at the club since his £1.5m arrival from Atlético Nacional - which upon reflection feels like daylight robbery on our part. He becomes the first Mallorca winner of the NxGn award.
Future Son Moix captain Andreu Barba makes it to number 4 on the list. The Sa Pobla born midfielder made 24 appearances this season, creating 5 goals for his teammates.
Argentina/Italy dual national Alejandro Reina comes in at number 5 on the list. After spending last season on loan at La Nucía, he returned to Mallorca to make a total of 13 appearances. At 17 years old, he’ll push for more involvement next season.
Adama Sabally is the last Mallorca name on the list. At 36th in the list, this is an indication of how raw he is as a talent. The 17 year old Gambian centreback has a lot to learn but has shown a lot of promise on loan at Racing Club de Ferrol in La Liga 2 this season - he made 32 appearances.
EUROPE BOUND
It may be a while before there is another update from this save as real life business is beginning to take over. It’s a strange point in the save too, I need to see this Mallorca side grow to becoming a club that can compete in Europe while maintaining the domestic race for future European qualification. All the while on a meagre budget by relative standards.
This is a transition I generally struggle with. No doubt there will have to be tactical tweaks along with some shrewd transfer business.