Tomás Pina

Tomás Pina is a young defensive midfielder who has come through the ranks at Real Mallorca, establishing himself in the first team. Born in la Ciudad Real in Spain (English: Royal City), Pina joined Real Mallorca B in 2008 from Madrid side CD Móstoles.

After the exodus from the first team in the summer of 2010, and his inclusion in the preseason squad, it was expected that Tomás Pina would be making the step up to first team football for the 2010/2011 season. Originally announced in the first team squad, it wasn’t long before his registration was swapped to the B team.

But the club were confident in Pina’s ability and potential, and six months into the season they toyed with the idea of sending the young Spaniard out on loan to further his development. But Director of Football Llorenç Serra Ferrer was concerned by the very real prospect of the B team being relegated from la Segunda División B and decided against the move.

Pina’s ability couldn’t save Mallorca’s B team, however, and they finished second bottom of division.

With just a year remaining on his Mallorca contract, Pina attracted the attentions of other clubs. These included recently relegated Hércules who reached ‘advanced stages of negotiations‘ with the midfielder, according to reports, after contract negotiations with Los Bermellones broke down.

The two parties managed to overcome their differences, however, and Pina signed an extension to keep him at the club until June 2015 on 13th August 2011 with Laudrup assuring him of his importance to the first team.

Laudrup wasn’t to remain at the club for too much longer, leaving around 4 weeks later. But under Caparrós, Pina still managed to accrue 32 games in his first full season in the first team. The main downside to his first full season, however, was the inevitable booking he picked up from game-to-game, managing 14 in 32.