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ÁNGEL LAFITA CASTILLO
Date of Birth: 7 August 1984
Nationality: Spain
Contract: 2007 - 2013
Transfer: €2 million (2008, from Zaragoza after one season on loan)
Previous Clubs: Deportivo (2007-2008), Real Zaragoza (2005-2007), Real Zaragoza B (2003-2005), Real Zaragoza Juvenil (2000-2003)
Buy-out Clause: €3 million (only applies to Zaragoza in 2009; this is increased to €3,5 million in 2010)
Height: 188 cm
Weight: 75 kg
Position: Midfielder (left/centre/right)
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 ÁNGEL LAFITA is a perfect example of a player who needed time to adapt at Deportivo, but in the second part of the 2007/2008 season was a key player in the come-back of the team to acquire an Intertoto spot. Lafita seemed unleashed, and relieved from a burden, and is expected to remain an important figure for next season too. The only negative aspect of his rise is that Zaragoza have an option to buy him back in 2009 for €3,5 million. But Deportivo will enjoy his services for at least another year.
One could say that Lafita was born with football in his blood: his father Juan Ángel Lafita was a talented player, but never made it at Zaragoza, while is uncle Javier Villarroya played at Deportivo in the years 1994-1996. His grandfather works at Zaragoza as part of the staff in the club’s installations: he’s their bartender. It is no surprise then that Lafita played at Real Zaragoza in their Juveniles when he was sixteen (during the season 2000/2001). Three years later he was promoted to Zaragoza B who were playing at Segunda B at that time, the same league as Deportivo B were in during the season 2007/2008. Lafita impressed during two campaigns in the B-team, especially when Zaragoza B finished fifth in 2005. Zaragoza coach Víctor Muñoz liked what he saw and Lafita was promoted to the first squad for the season 2005/2006.
The two main characteristics of Lafita are his ability to shoot from long-distance and his good abilities to control the ball. Add to this that he’s tall (188 cm), and there are the reasons why Víctor Muñoz used him as a striker on some occasions as replacement of Argentinean legend Diego Milito. But Lafita also performed as playmaker, although his usual position in the team was the one of right winger. He made his debut in the Primera División on 28 August 2005 during the first match of the season at Atlético’s Vicente Calderón (0-0). He added twelve more matches to this total, but he was a substitute in eleven of those. He only started two matches: against Real Sociedad in March 2006 and on the final day of the season against Mallorca. After 431 minutes in Primera (the equivalent of almost five full matches) he already was noticed by Deportivo.
 The team of coach Caparrós was undergoing a revolution with youngsters and the Galicians tried to sign Lafita that summer. It was the right time to try it, because Lafita’s contract would end the next year. But the deal failed. Half a year later Deportivo tried again, but Lafita decided to extend his contract at Zaragoza until 2009. There seemed to be a reason for that, because he played in fourteen of the nineteen matches in the first part of the season 2006/2007. However, he only started one of those matches and usually entered the pitch with twenty or fifteen minutes remaining. During one of those entries, at Racing de Santander, he scored his first Liga goal (0-2) and earned a penalty kick (which was missed by Milito). But in the second part of the season, his situation stabilized. He did start three more matches, but at the end of the season he had played just 674 minutes (the equivalent of 7,5 full match) and that is not enough for a player with his talent and almost aged twenty-three.
In 2007 his situation only became more difficult at Zaragoza, as owner Agapito Iglesias (in charge since 2006) considered money no issue. Expensive playmaker Aimar was signed from Valencia, while Argentinean playmaker D'Alessandro was bought (after a loan deal) and winger Sergio García would make it into the Spain squad for the Euro 2008 tournament. Lafita had to make a difficult decision, as Zaragoza was his home and club of his life and family. In June 2007 he was linked again to a move to Deportivo and quickly agreed with it. Deportivo had been aiming at young players, which gave opportunities to players like Arizmendi and Arbeloa to shine, and Lafita considered that appealing. While Lafita already was praising new coach Lotina (“I remember him for the Copa final we lost 1-4 against his Espanyol and he is going to do important things at Deportivo”), a deal with Zaragoza wasn’t done for many weeks. It could have been that Deportivo rejected to sell Coloccini to Zaragoza for a few million Euro, and both parties disagreed about the buy-back clause for Lafita. Mid-July the deal even seemed over because of this and Deportivo approached ex-Celta winger Jonathan Aspas. But a few days later everything went quickly and the deal was done on 17 June 2007.
Being a Deportivo player, on loan that is, Lafita made clear that he is a left winger who also can perform at the right wing but that he prefers the wings over playing as second striker. He also expressed his wish to play a good season so that the Galicians would sign him on a permanent basis. When asked about his uncle, Villarroya, Lafita said: “He always says positive things about Deportivo and La Coruña. People are really kind and open to people from the outside. La Coruña is a nice city to live in and that Deportivo are an important club. I still have a shirt of him which he gave me, number seventeen”. But decisive to Lafita had been that Deportivo had been after him for a while. “They already tried to sign me last year”. Finally, Lafita revealed that he himself played an important part in the deal taking him to Deportivo. “I talked a lot in Zaragoza’s office to solve the case. The only thing I didn’t do was to fax the papers from one club to the other… I must admit that it all made me very nervous. I didn’t go on holidays and had my bags packed and waited for fifteen days. But I told them that I really wanted a move to Deportivo”.
 Lafita pointed to his preference “to face the opponent with the ball at my feet” and to “being bold”. Coach Lotina added to this his technical skills and velocity. “And we have big hopes for him this season. He could become an important player but needs to play consecutive matches”. Lafita played most friendlies that pre-season and together with youngsters Guardado and Adrián was important during the 1-2 win at regional rivals Racing de Ferrol (Segunda División). An injury sidelined him for the Teresa Herrera tournament, but Lotina announced that Lafita was going to start the first match of the season against Almería in Riazor. The winger himself hoped that “results arrive quickly because that will free us from some pressure. We are playing good football, but if we don’t get results…” At the end of the day, Lotina didn’t declare Lafita to be 100% fit and the right wing belonged to Cristián. The match (a 0-3 loss) was a complete disaster and Lafita replaced Cristián when the situation was already hopeless. But Lafita was going to have his opportunity in the next five matches as a starter. His matches against Valladolid and Betis Sevilla weren’t impressive at all, although Deportivo took four points, and Lafita admitted that he wasn’t satisfied. At Getafe, the Galicians failed to impress in the offensive zone (0-0) but the most dangerous occasion was created by Lafita. For the third time in a row he was substituted by Cristián, and the impression left still wasn’t positive. Lotina was asked in the press why winger Pablo Álvarez wasn’t even included in the squad, and the coach replied that “I’m satisfied for now with Guardado and Lafita”. But that changed after the next two matches. Deportivo played another disastrous home match against Recreativo (0-2) and Lafita wasn’t seen all night. At Espanyol, he missed an unique opportunity (alone in front of Kameni) to score and for a fifth consecutive time was taken off after a disappointing performance.
Lotina had already revolutionized the team by bringing Adrián López, Filipe, De Guzmán and Xisco and now it was Lafita’s turn to be benched. Until the match before Christmas (the 0-1 win at Levante) he didn’t start in the Liga and only had three entries (against Murcia, Osasuna and Barcelona). After the Espanyol match, Lafita admitted that he had troubles with sleeping and that he needed a goal in order to gain confidence. Lotina defended him and said that “young players always perform irregular. But he has a good mind-set and he transmits this to the squad”. Lafita experienced a special celebration at Murcia when Guardado scored, as the Mexican winger already had promised Lafita that they would be celebrating a goal together. It quickly became clear that both youngsters, although they can perform at the same position, had become friends. For his part, coach Lotina felt the pressure too when Deportivo were in the relegation zone for many months. Lafita explained that “the squad is united and behind him. And if we aren’t united, we’re doomed”. There was some confusion about him being able to play against Zaragoza in Riazor because of a contract stipulation, but that only applied to the match at La Romareda. In the end it didn’t matter as Lafita wasn’t picked, but he started the match at Espanyol for the Copa del Rey. The ex-team of Lotina was going to be special to Lafita in the season 2007/2008 because he started all four matches against them. In this match he was Deportivo’s playmaker and the best player on the pitch, until he was moved to the right wing. It earned Lafita the starting place at Levante (0-1), together with Cristián and Guardado at the wings. Lafita summarized that match very well: “Sometimes it’s necessary to leave the pretty style behind to get a result…”. Lafita was again Deportivo’s best player in the Copa home match against Espanyol, but limped off injured just before extra-time started.
 The player was starting to gain more confidence being a playmaker and was repeated in the line-up against Atlético de Madrid. Lafita admitted that his physical condition and confidence had improved compared to the start of the season, and appreciated what Deportivo had done to him. “I feel like a football player here and I feel the trust. It’s not that at Zaragoza it was very different, but there was more competition and I got fewer opportunities. I have more confidence here and am happier. I will give everything for Deportivo”. Lotina preferred Lafita over Verdú “because he has more offensive power”. Lafita didn’t play bad, and should have earned a penalty, although the team once again broke down after falling behind: 0-3. He had to wait for six weeks though to start another match. An injury made it impossible for him to play at Villarreal (a 4-3 loss) and Guardado took the left wing. From then on, Lotina was counting of the strength of Juan Rodríguez and Lafita only played fifteen minutes during the 1-0 loss at Almería. It was the last match of Deportivo’s downfall, and the Galicians took seven points against Valladolid, Betis Sevilla, Getafe and Recreativo. New signing Wilhelmsson quickly shined at the right wing which made things even more difficult to Lafita, because Guardado was assured of the other winger spot in Lotina’s new system. Lafita didn’t really understand it this time. “I think I did a pretty good job recently but suddenly I’m benched again. I even fell out of the squad. It seems that I’m facing, again, the dark sides of football but I hope that things will change soon. I learn from this and I gain positive energy from negative experiences. I won’t give up. In football everything can change in one day, so why won’t it for me?”
Although the team had climbed from a desperate position, the 3-2 defeat at Recreativo put Deportivo back into the danger zone. Lafita was going to make new chances (he wanted “more depth”), and Lafita’s hopes came true. He started at the left wing in the crucial home match against Espanyol (2-0) and was brilliant, scoring Deportivo’s second goal. Both he and Wilhelmsson were the motors of the team. After the match, coach Lotina made a mysterious remark that he had “done more for Lafita than all you (press) can imagine”. Lafita’s explanation didn’t reveal what that was: “The coach has helped me with something, something that I won’t make public but was a key factor in this game”. Lafita was unleashed after his first goal for Deportivo and dedicated it to the supporters. Against Sevilla (a 2-1 win), Lafita set up the play which earned Deportivo an equalizer through a penalty-kick and the ex-Zaragoza player himself scored the winner after a free-kick which had been prepared by the team before the match. Lafita was, again, one of the best players that night and Deportivo was climbing away from relegation. On a personal level, Lafita said that “these moments are a compensation for all the bad periods that I’ve experienced. It’s evident that everything has a start and an end”. Suddenly he was ‘hot’, and all local newspapers were after Lafita who had celebrated his goal with rage (“because we really needed it”). He explained that he hadn’t dedicated his goal to someone special, although he had ‘waited’ with scoring to the second half when he was playing in front of the injured Guardado. Of course that was a joke, but it was an indication that these two players remained friends even if one took the position from the other. The injury of Guardado sustained at Betis Sevilla had given Lafita a chance to shine, which was also much supported by the excellent performances of Wilhelmsson at the right wing. Lafita only didn’t start three matches from then on because of a suspension, the contract stipulation before the Zaragoza match and at the end of the season when the team were safe already.
 Lafita had scored two goals in consecutive matches, and made it three in three weeks when he converted Wilhelmsson’s cross in Valencia to earn Deportivo a point (2-2), despite that he wasn’t 100% fit. Things were now changing. Deportivo prepared the match against Real Madrid with confidence (and Lafita admitted that he hates Madrid “a little bit”) while his former team, Zaragoza, were dropping fast and now only were three points above the relegation zone. Lafita bounced back all questions about next season by saying that “Deportivo should decide about that”. But he admitted that “the situation at Zaragoza isn’t normal and I don’t know what’s happening. This team should be playing for the top spots but it has entered into a negative dynamic”. Lafita also said that renewed confidence had been the key for his better performances and confirmed that the ‘secret’ he shares with Lotina has to do with the way Lafita trains. Lafita played another fine match against Real Madrid (a 1-0 win) which leaped Deportivo to fourteenth place. Lafita kept his place although Guardado had entered the Madrid match for him as a substitute. The Mexican once more confirmed that “I never have had rivalry with Lafita. He’s simply spectacular. You can see that he’s a top player. Of course I want to play and it’s up to the coach to decide. But Lafita and I always will be friends”. At Mallorca (a 1-0 loss), Deportivo were quite average and so was Lafita. Their game improved when Guardado replaced Lafita, but the ex-Zaragoza player kept his place for the Murcia match (a 3-1 win) and this time Guardado replaced Wilhelmsson. Competition could have increased for Lafita because of that, but once again Guardado limped off injured and he would only reappear in the final match of the season. Besides, Lafita was simply playing great while Deportivo had just started their best period of the season. Meanwhile, news papers wrote that Lendoiro wanted to keep Lotina. According to Lafita’s agent, that would be simple. “The contract already was signed this summer. If Deportivo say ‘yes’ we don’t even need to talk about it”.
Deportivo achieved five consecutive wins against Murcia, Racing de Santander (Lafita with a great decisive pass to Xisco), Athlétic de Bilbao, Osasuna and FC Barcelona (Lafita’s assist to Juan Rodríguez). Lafita was part of the winning formula but had to miss the match in Pamplona because of a suspension. And he regretted that, because according to him “everybody in Pamplona hates Zaragoza”. Apparently, the feelings for his ex-team hadn’t diminished. When Lotina was asked about which players had surprised him most in a positive way, the first name he came up with was Filipe. But he also mentioned De Guzmán, Xisco and Lafita. Before the match at Real Zaragoza, which Lafita had to miss because of the contract stipulation, Lafita surprised many by saying that “we have the potential to win the Liga. This year we could already achieve direct access to the UEFA Cup which would be a reward for all our suffering. We have young players, ambition and in time we could win the Liga too. Why not?”. Lafita confirmed once more that he sees himself at the club for many more years. “But Deportivo will have to make that move”. Finally, he was asked to reply with names to several questions like most surprising player (“De Guzmán and Guardado”), best player of Deportivo during the past years (“Fran”), toughest opponent (“Roberto Carlos”) and his idol (“Luis Figo”).
 Lafita, who lives close to the Riazor stadium, returned to the team which narrowly beat Levante (1-0). Deportivo now were very close to Intertoto football, and even UEFA Cup if they would win against Atlético in Madrid and if the results of the final match day were in their favour. Lotina tried the conservative way by using both Juan Rodríguez and Wilhelmsson at the right wing to contain Atlético’s Maxi. This conservative team didn’t impress, but neither did Atlético in their 1-0 win. Lafita returned to Deportivo’s line-up for the final match of the season, when Intertoto football was secured against Villarreal despite a 0-2 loss in Riazor. News of the day was the interest of this team in signing him, as news papers wrote that Villarreal wanted to pay €6 million for Lafita and add him to their team playing Champions League next year. It was clear though that Deportivo didn’t want to lose him, but the Galicians didn’t pay the €2 million right away while Zaragoza extended the deadline with fifteen days from 15 to 30 June 2008. Lafita, of course, wanted to know about the situation but this time was more disconnected because of holidays. The issue were Lafita’s buy-out clauses, but no details about the discussions were revealed. It could well be that Deportivo wanted to axe those clauses. And there seemed to be confusion about the scenario if Zaragoza would pay that clause this summer: at which club was Lafita going to play? Zaragoza had been relegated and that certainly didn’t appeal to Lafita, who could be playing UEFA Cup football with Deportivo. In any case, on Thursday 26 June 2008 the club announced that it had decided to pay the amount. Because of it, Lafita became a player of Deportivo with a contract running until 2013.
That wasn’t the biggest surprise though. The question remains when Zaragoza are going to buy back Lafita, because the “if” question already is answered by their president Eduardo Bandrés who said that “for sure Lafita will return to Zaragoza at some moment although nobody knows when”. Lafita ended his silence about the topic, although his agent spoke for him: “We see the contract as Deportivo do. Nobody is going to pay €2 million to see the player leaving the next day. We want Lafita to stay at Deportivo and it’s our wish that Deportivo solves this issue with Zaragoza. Lafita wants to play Intertoto with Deportivo and to perform well”. Lafita travelled with the squad to Denmark and played in both friendlies against Amager (0-4) and Brondby (1-1), and scored in that second match. An indication of things to come was the Intertoto away match at Bnei Sakhnin (1-2) where Valerón and Lafita were all over the place. Lotina kept five defenders on the pitch with Sergio and Juan Rodríguez backing midfield, which left a lot of space to Valerón, Lafita and Riki. The freedom to Lafita caused that he not only scored Deportivo’s first goal, but he also hit the bar, gave the assist when Riki scored Deportivo’s second and at the end of the match almost scored the third of the night. Lafita also started the return match against the Israelian team, which qualified Deportivo for the UEFA Cup tournament. And if it’s up to Lafita, he doesn’t want to miss out on that.
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