5 – Albert Luque

A lot of folks breathed a sigh of relief when this much admired fellow finally sorted out his status at Ajax and decided to sign on the dotted line for Malaga. Evidently Alberto turned down several far more lucrative offers to stay with Malaga whose long standing supporters can still remember how important he was in their promotion year of 2000 and equally how vital he was last season when his goals moved the probability of relegation into the possibility of European qualification.

Originally on Barcelona’s books, Albert moved to Mallorca and, as a loanee, came to Malaga for the first time. His obvious talent earned him a €15 million transfer tag and he moved the high flying Deportivo who were the then current League Champions. Three seasons later Luque transferred to Newcastle for €14 million but didn’t appear to fit in with the set up there. When newly signed Joey Barton was given his Nº 7 shirt the writing appeared to be on the wall. However that didn’t stop him from scoring his one and only goal for Newcastle against local rivals Sunderland – something that really should have rewarded him with instant sainthood. Anyhow he moved on to Ajax of Amsterdam and from there full circle to Malaga. We wish him all the best and the same performance as last year.

6 - Xavi Torres

Málaga’s number six is the former 23 year old captain of Barcelona B side, which is now called Atlético Barcelona. A native of Javea, Xavier's first club was with Alicante but he was quickly spotted by Barcelona and just as quickly became their B team captain. More than likely, realising that he was good but maybe not good enough to break into the Barça team at the moment, Malaga’s offer to join them has clearly been a perfect opportunity for him to enhance his career with La Primera experience.

9 – Fernando Forestieri

Malaga’s new number nine is a 19 year old Argentinean youngster who comes to the club on a year’s loan from his joint owners Udinese and Genoa. With a youthful appearance that resembles Barcelona’s Lionel Messi the lad was spotted by Boca Juniors when he was only thirteen years old and signed him for 50,000 dollars. Clearly seen as a star in the making, at sixteen Forestieri moved to Italy where he signed a five year contract with Genoa which was disputed by Boca. Having turned down offers to play for Argentina, Forestieri then donned an Italian shirt and played in their U17, U19 and U20 teams. Having watched his stunning performance in the second half at Goodison Park this fellow showed plenty of real promise and as part of a double strike force could be dynamite.

11 – Valdo

Valmiro Lopes Rocha is the fellow who will be wearing the number eleven shirt for Malaga this coming season. A former Real Madrid youth team player Valdo worked his way up through the ranks and was capped for Spain as an U21. The highlight of his career so far has to be his Champions League winner’s medal that he won with Real Madrid back in 2002. Following moves to Osasuna and then Espanyol Valdo is a talented right sides player who comes on a year’s loan from Espanyol.