Villarreal’s recent upturn has brought two players who attracted significant interest during the summer into greater prominence on the pitch.
Alex Freeman and Ilias Akhomach were the two members of the squad who generated the most interest and attracted the strongest offers during the transfer window, yet both remained at the club.
Akhomach was part of Iñigo Pérez’s plans from the outset, although he faced competition for his position from Nicolas Pepe. During the summer, clubs including Club Brugge, Espanyol and Olympique de Marseille showed an interest and were prepared to pursue a transfer.
AS reported that the Morocco international ultimately made his preference clear. He wanted to remain at Villarreal and rejected the opportunity to leave, choosing to continue his development at the club.
Freeman’s situation was different. The right-back attracted substantial interest after his performances at the World Cup, with the offers acknowledged by Villarreal and football director Miguel Ángel Tena.
However, the club viewed the season as an important one for Freeman and there was never a realistic prospect of allowing him to leave or entering negotiations over a transfer.
The original plan for Villarreal’s right-back position also appeared to make Freeman’s route into the team less straightforward. Santiago Mouriño was initially expected to occupy that role, but the situation has changed during the opening weeks of the campaign.
Freeman has taken advantage of that change, while Akhomach has also become increasingly significant as Villarreal have started to recover their form.
Their situations underline a decision made by Villarreal during the summer: to resist offers for two players who were already attracting attention and instead keep them within a squad expected to compete on several fronts.
For Akhomach, that meant turning down concrete opportunities elsewhere. For Freeman, it meant staying despite the interest generated by his World Cup performances.
Both are now providing evidence on the pitch for the club’s decision to retain them, giving Villarreal two players whose market value and sporting importance have grown at the same time.