With the 2016/17 league season over, Miguel Ángel Ramírez analyzed his team’s season. The main objective of staying up was easily achieved “as we tried to keep relegation at arm’s length, and managed not to flirt with the bottom three places”. The president admitted full responsibility for the self-criticism the club set itself, “The dominating end of season disappointment overshadows the achievements we have made”.
The club’s leader also made reference to the mediatic impact of the team during the season: “The arrival of top stars such as Prince Boateng and Jesé, together with the way the team played, provided us with far reaching international exposure”.
Miguel Ángel Ramírez also had kind words for recently departed trainer Quique Setién: “We are grateful for his contribution in keeping the team in the top flight two years running”. “I will never again start negotiating a manager’s contract midway through the season, I think that was a great mistake”, he added. The president went into closer detail about the offer the club made to Setién: “We offered him around ten million euros over five seasons, he asked us for between six and seven million euros a year to sign new players, and also the capacity to veto decisions made by the management team, while I told him that’s not the way we work”. “One of the reasons for the success of UD and for us being where we are today is because all sports-related decisions are taken by the management as a whole”, he stressed.
Regarding new signings, Miguel Ángel Ramírez announced the possible arrival of between three and five players, as well as the new trainer, pointing out that “the decision on the new manager was taken quite some time ago”.
Looking forward to next season, the president underlined his excitement at having another crack at playing in the top flight: “We should be happy and proud to be part of the best league in the world, and we hope to go from strength to strength”.
