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In the wake of a number of fresh stories on players Napoli is interesting in bringing in, we have official news of a departure. Various sources in Spain indicate that Eduardo Vargas has been loaned to Valencia for the remainder of the season, sending the Chilean attacker away just a short time after arriving back at the club from another loan.
Vargas, who spent the last year with Brazil's Gremio, joins Spain's ninth-place side. Valencia's fortunes have fallen in recent years, going from perennial contender for Champions League places to mid-table mediocrity. In fact, despite their seemingly safe position, Valencia are currently closer to the relegation zone (eight points up Valladolid and Rayo) than the Champions League spots (fifteen points behind Athletic Bilbao).
Valencia will be hoping that Vargas will give them teeth in attack, where they've been remarkably poor this season. The club has scored just 26 goals in 20 matches, and find themselves with a negative goal differential as they've surrendered 31. He should certainly feature heavily in their rotation, with Sofiane Feghouli and Andres Guardado giving them any quality out wide.
It's a shame that Rafa Benitez couldn't find space for Vargas in Napoli's attacking rotation. He's a quality player despite having fallen out of Walter Mazzarri's favor last year. It certainly seems that we've seen the last of the diminutive Chilean in Naples, though, as a sale in the summer is looking ever more likely, especially with his contract expiring after next season.
Vargas has made 28 all-competitions appearances for Napoli, with 19 coming in the league. He's yet to score in the league for Napoli, though he did find the back of the net three times in Europa play last season. He made fourteen starts and four substitute appearances for Gremio last season, scoring four times.
