Villarreal are hoping Real Madrid will be willing to agree to a Cheryshev sale and a Diego Llorente loan.
Today's EPM has a couple of very interesting articles--and since their main journalist, Sr. Lizarraga, is someone who is quite close to the Villarreal front office, they bear close reading. The first concerns Denis Cheryshev. The problem is not just Real Madrid, who owns his rights, but it's also his agent, who has been demanding more money in salary for his man than Villarreal has been willing to agree to. In fact, Sr. Lizarraga said the negotiations had essentially ended, but Denis intervened to get them going again. Villarreal have proposed a five-year contract, but there is no agreement as yet.
And then there is Real Madrid. Cheryshev's contract with them runs only until next summer, so his transfer fee is likely to be somewhere in the €6-8m range. Villarreal have offered 6, Madrid want 8. None of these obstacles seem insurmountable, especially given Cheryshev wants a deal to be worked out, it would appear. However, Villarreal would like to wrap the matter up quickly; if an agreement can't be reached, we'll move on. (Chery is currently recovering from injury and probably would not be available for the CL qualifiers, by the way)
The other Madrid player Villarreal is interested in is center back Diego Llorente, who had a good season on loan to Rayo Vallecano. Sr. Lizarraga reports Madrid could be willing to loan him to us; Llorente himself would be willing, especially since Marcelino has shown he is quite good at developing center backs in the last couple of years (Victor Ruiz, Gabriel, Eric Bailly).
And, as reported elsewhere, Villarreal have decided not to pursue Pablo Sarabia. The Getafe player is likely to end up in Sevilla.