• The former Valencia great is being overlooked by Middlesbrough new manager Gareth Southgate despite some great performances for Boro, wich lead to Southgate currently confirming that he's ready to let Mendieta leave as of January.  Mendieta's agent said a return to Spain is highly probable, with Athletic Bilbao and Malaga CF being the only ones linked with a move for the player.  At 32 years old he still has 2 or 3 good years in him and he doesn't want to sit them out.  ¿But why are these clubs the only ones giving it a go?  There's other clubs that can make a better use of Mendieta's talent, like Getafe, Betis, Atletico de Madrid, Villarreal or Deportivo.  It would make a great transfer given it would probably be for free"$", la Liga isn't as fatiguing as the FA Premier and in exchange you get a world class player capable of "consistently" showin glimpses of his Valencia days.

I think Mendieta's return to la Liga is going to happen cause he made his name playing in Spain(always played good in Valencia and Barcelona), but until now there hasn't been a clear offer neither from Athlatic Bilbao or Malaga...  Just read Real Sociedad are considering a late bid for Mendieta(they should really go for it) and i look forward to seeing him play with Savio.  these two can make a combination similar to Aimar and D'Alessandro of Zaragoza and get Sociedad out of relegetion zone.  

The comparison with Aimar and D'Alessandro is a little exagerated but  Mendi's a quality player and can combine well with Savio.  About Real Sociedad's bid they would be making  the right choice by ading Gaizka to their plans as he brings strength and creativity to teams, although i expected more clubs showin interest for him i favour this move to R.Sociedad cause he'll get more protagonism.

If the transfer materializes i expect Mendieta performing better in la Liga then at the FA Premier, like   Morientes who in liverpool underperformed scoring only 12 goals in 61 appearances and for Valencia has scored 13 goals already.  The relegetion zone? I have no doubts that with Gaizka playing on their team they'll start getting positive results.