Caparrós to open Mallorca contract talks

Joaquín Caparrós has announced that he will open contract negotiations with Real Mallorca next week after the club guaranteed its mathematical safety last weekend. The Andalusian coach had been adamant that he would not discuss extending his contract until his job of keeping the club up was complete.

‘Next week my agent will fly to the island to talk to Mallorca,’ Caparrós told IB3. ‘Ofcourse I can continue. We’ve been talking about extending contracts of players and where we can strengthen the squad. Serra Ferrer knows what I want.’

But Caparrós was keen that these talks should not take centre stage. ‘Do not focus on me. Although I can see what people would, the players have been the real architect of what has been achieved and we must recognise that importance.’

Caparrós joined the club in October 2011 after the resignation of Michael Laudrup. The former Athletic Club coach was made the highest paid coach in Mallorca’s history in a deal until the end of the season to take them out of trouble. In doing so, he has attracted the attentions of both Sevilla and Valencia.

‘In two weeks, or at least by the end of the season, a decision will have been made,’ Caparrós told IB3. ‘I have not spoken to any other team either. And talking about moving to specific teams isn’t right as they currently have coaches.’

But it wasn’t as simple as that. Caparrós is insistant that the Board’s stability is one of his conditions for continuation. ‘It’s important to know that Serra Ferrer and Cladera will follow. Institutional peace is essential.’ This was before lamenting the poor support that the club has from the stands. And we all know what happened last time a coach dared to do that.