On the 23rd (Korea Standard Time), Majorca officially announced their separation from Aguirre on its official website, saying, "Aguirre will not lead the team from next season. Thank you for your efforts so far." Since taking the helm in a hurry in March 2022, the club has officially ended its two-year trip. Originally, Aguirre and Majorca signed a contract until this season. Attention was focused on whether to extend the contract, but the result was a breakup.
Mallorca made it to the final of the Copa del Rey this season, but narrowly avoided relegation in the Spanish Primera Liga with 37 points (7 wins, 16 draws, and 14 losses). It is 17th, four points ahead of Cadiz, who is 18th in the relegation zone, ahead of the final match. Although the ranking could rise further depending on the result of the final match, it was on the verge of relegation throughout the season and narrowly succeeded in surviving the match.
Compared to the previous season, when it was ranked 9th with 50 points (14 wins, 8 draws, 16 losses) in the 2022-23 season, its performance dropped significantly. Mallorca once showed a frightening rise to the point where it even aimed to qualify for the UEFA club competition. It was a successful season just to reach 9th place in that it was a team whose top priority was to stay, but it fell back to the bottom in one season.
As such, the team's performance has fallen significantly in a year, and Aguirre has suffered throughout the season, and local people are citing "Lee Kang-in's vacancy."
In fact, Lee Kang-in was a key player in Majorca during the 2022-23 season. He played in 36 matches (33 starts) of the Spanish Primera Liga, and accumulated six goals and six assists. He was a key player in the team not only in terms of attack points but also in terms of tactics. He also worked well with tall striker Vedat Muriki. Muriki had 15 goals and three assists, displaying robust performance.
Thanks to his performance, Lee Kang-in headed to PSG, one of the world's most prestigious clubs. It earned the Majorca club 22 million euros (30.217 million U.S. dollars) in transfer fees. This is the club's second-largest transfer fee ever, following 27 million euros (39.9 billion won) in transfer fees when Samuel Etou moved to Barcelona in 2005. However, Majorca failed to make full use of the profits from Lee Kang-in's transfer. The team's performance also declined as it failed to recruit key players to fill Lee Kang-in's vacancy. Muriqi's score also plunged by more than half to six goals. This is why there is regret over Lee's absence.
Local reporter Raul Mendes said, "Coach Aguirre achieved the club's goal of staying in the first division during his tenure and led the team to the Copa del Rey final," but analyzed, "This season, Aguirre left Lee Kang-in, who was the core of the team, and suffered because he could not recruit a similar type of player."
BY: 스포츠토토핫
