Malaga bring in Lugano on loan from PSG
Reuters - Wednesday 23 January 2013, 10:33
Malaga have strengthened their squad by taking Uruguay defender and
captain Diego Lugano on loan from Paris Saint-Germain until the end of the
season, the Spanish club said on Wednesday.
The
32-year-old, who arrived on the Costa del Sol on Tuesday, has passed
his medical and trained with his new team mates for the first time.
He
is eligible to play for Malaga in the Champions League, but the club do
not have an option to make the move permanent at the end of the season.
The
centre-back played for Brazil's Sao Paulo and Turkey's Fenerbahce
before moving to Paris in 2011 but after featuring in 12 Ligue 1 games
last season he has yet make a single appearance this term.
"The recent months have been tough for me in sporting terms because I have not been playing," Lugano told a news conference.
"I
have a new challenge now for the second half of the season, and this
will also help me to give my all for the national team, which is a top
priority for me.
"I am in
good shape, I just lack match minutes. I recognise I am joining a team
that is doing very well, that is already strong in defence, but I have
come to do my bit, to get some playing time and I think it is the best
move for me."
PSG coach
Carlo Ancelotti said in a statement: "Lugano went to Malaga, where he
will certainly play more. I want to say that he was very professional.
His behaviour was exemplary."
Lugano
became Malaga's second mid-season recruit after the fifth-placed club
in La Liga landed Chelsea's promising Brazilian midfielder Lucas Piazon
on another six-month loan deal last week.
Malaga,
who take on Porto in the last 16 of the Champions League next month,
will meet Barcelona in a King's Cup quarter-final second leg on
Thursday.
Manuel
Pellegrini's side hold the upper hand against the league leaders after
a 2-2 draw in last week's first leg at the Nou Camp.