In the winter window of 2025, Deportivo de La Coruña successfully retained Yeremay Hernandez (Yeremay Hernández, 02, ESP, nicknamed "Peke"). This operation can be called a classic case of a small team resisting predatory purchases by big clubs.
As one of the best wingers of Segunda División this season, the 170cm tall Yeremay has flexible ankles, good ball-handling and dribbling skills, average speed but strong pressure, small size but not afraid of confrontation, good inside and outside left wing, and unpredictable actions. Even if La Liga is pulled, he can be considered a leader, and his discipline and game mentality have gradually matured. As early as 2018, Depor signed a professional player contract with 16-year-old Yeremay. This is also a sign that the club recognizes his talent, and he is the cornerstone of the current team.
In addition to his technical talent, Yeremay appeared humble and low-key in interviews. He can understand criticism from the outside world from a constructive and positive perspective, and his words are quite harsh but never negative. His growth has not been smooth sailing. When he first joined the first team, he sometimes could not keep up with the intensity of his teammates. His lack of physique and endurance were his weaknesses, but it can be seen that his confrontation gradually improved with the experience of high-intensity key battles.
Although Naples, Como, Chelsea/Strasbourg and other teams took turns bidding, Deportivo de La Coruña withstood the pressure and temptation, and Yeremay did not cause trouble. The two parties renewed the contract before closing the window, raising Yeremay's liquidated damages from 20 million euros to 35 million euros (if La Liga is upgraded, the liquidated damages will reach 40 million euros). This operation cannot be explained by the "emotional kidnapping" of "I love Lako"; The club has effectively created an environment for players to feel comfortable, recognized, and that meets common interests.
In the summer of 2023, when Deportivo de La Coruña was still in La Liga, Yeremay was still earning the lowest salary of the first team, but the offers from two Segunda División teams made Deportivo de La Coruña alert and immediately used his far-sighted salary. Renewal with generous terms: Not only will Yeremay be provided with a competitive salary immediately, but if the team upgrades to Segunda División, it will also come with an automatic salary increase, the liquidated damages will rise to 20 million euros, and the contract will also be extended to 2026. This flexible contract design not only protects the interests of the players, but also allows the club to take more initiative.
Yeremay’s liquidated damages of 20 million euros have revealed most of the reasons。Although Deportivo de La Coruña keeps Yeremay’s salary strictly confidential, the termination bonus in the Spanish League player contract is linked to the player’s salary, Although the player salaries disclosed by the media are mostly biased, we can refer to similar transactions in the history of Segunda División, that is, in 2019, Barcelona paid 22 million euros in liquidated damages for Segunda División's Pedri in Las Palmas to infer the salary range of players under the same liquidated damages situation.
Pedri's annual salary in Lapa is said to be 1.976 million euros. Taking into account inflation and fine-tuning of the calculation method, Yeremay's annual salary must be higher. Coupled with the bonus clauses usually attached to forward players, his actual annual income in Deportivo de La Coruña is about 2 million to 3 million euros.
In addition, thanks to the years of rectification by the major shareholder Abanca (a local bank in Galicia), the financial situation of Deportivo de La Coruña, which was once bankrupt, is now extremely healthy. In the history of Segunda División, there has never been a promoted team like Deportivo. The salary cap ranks third in Segunda División, even higher than the Spanish and Sevilla who are in financial crisis in La Liga, and the team does not have any debt. This healthy financial situation gives the club the ability to provide high salaries, space to consolidate itself, and the confidence to renew the contracts of the most important players and set higher liquidated damages.
2024/25 season La Liga, Segunda División salary cap ranking
Over the years, Deportivo de La Coruña has poured the best resources into Yeremay, and he has also repaid the team with his outstanding performance. As of February 10, 2025, his 9 goals and 3 assists directly brought 10 points to the team. Without his contribution, the newly upgraded Deportivo de La Coruña will face the risk of downgrade.
So, how does the buyer position the transaction of Yeremay? And what kind of salary is matched according to its positioning?
Naples, Como and Chelsea (or Strasbourg) position Yeremay more as a rotation player or a tool for future profits, rather than as a necessity for the first team. This positioning determines that their sincerity, treatment and training plans (if any) cannot be compared with Deportivo de La Coruña.
Take the 19-year-old forward Marc Guiu, who will be transferred to Chelsea in the summer window of 2024 as an example. His positioning is mainly in the rotation of Conference League. It is said that his annual salary is about 2.6 million euros. This salary has no obvious advantage compared with Yeremay’s current estimated income at Deportivo de La Coruña.
It can be seen that, Mid- and lower-tier or secondary league teams with stable economic foundations and good management are fully capable of matching the rotation-level treatment offered by major teams to young players. This is an important basis for retaining players whose quality exceeds the level of the team's market.
Deportivo de La Coruña rejected the offer. In exchange, the team increased Yereme's salary and terms. This is more of a mutual commitment: long-term contract, high terms, growing together, and moving forward together. The 35 million liquidated damages reassure the team that the players will not suddenly run away: Unless they are drunk, no one will pay such a high price for Yeremay; but no matter when Yeremay leaves, he will definitely leave huge income to the club. This is a plan that benefits both parties.
However, even if Deportivo de La Coruña provides the best treatment and matching salary, retaining Yeremay is still a huge challenge. Being in Segunda División means that it is almost impossible for the 23-year-old to enter the national team (the last Segunda División player selected for the national team was Martin Montoya of the BarcelonaB team in 2012). In addition, Yeremay has received three significant salary increases in 18 months. Without the support of excellent performance, teammates will inevitably feel jealous.
Although Yeremay's performance on the court in January was ups and downs, and he was obviously distracted by the impact of the big contract, his final choice showed that he could rationally evaluate his career, and the club's environment was good enough for him to make a calm judgment. This situation is rare in the world of football.
Deportivo de La Coruña’s operation of Yeremay in the winter window reflects what true long-termism is in the football world, and it is also the distinction between economically-oriented and competitive-oriented clubs.
When economically oriented clubs have 19 days left in the winter window and have the opportunity to earn 15 million euros, they tend to think that there are always alternatives on the market, so they tend to make decisions to sell core players. Especially for second division clubs, €15 million is of great significance to the salary cap and can bring significant economic advantages in the coming years. But reality is often not the case. Losing core players in the winter window will disrupt the team's carefully prepared transfer strategy for months, trigger a series of chain reactions, and eventually turn into a disaster. sporting director holds 15 million euros. If he does nothing, the problem may not worsen; but if he acts recklessly, the damage to the club will be more serious. Such tragedies are especially common in the winter window when players are scarce and the market is cold.
Competition-oriented clubs know that players like Yeremay are far more powerful than the club's current level and are the source of the team's core competitiveness. For such players, the club not only regards them as valuable assets, but is also grateful. Even if there is a risk of fluctuation in the performance of the players or the market conditions, such clubs will not easily choose to "take it easy". The team's interests are not only reflected in the numbers in the financial report, but also in maintaining the stability of competitive levels on a healthy financial basis, which places higher demands on the club's financial management and risk control capabilities. This kind of stability is the cornerstone for the club to improve its performance and obtain greater returns in the future. By retaining core players, the club can not only maintain immediate combat effectiveness, but also lay a solid foundation for long-term development, thereby achieving a win-win situation both financially and competitively.
The board of directors' decisions are often based on complex positions and interest disputes, while fans only have the desire for the team's success and use this to evaluate the player's level. And what are the team's interests? Is it cash flow vs. salary cap in Excel, or is it the team's performance now and in the next few seasons? Is it a compromise in the power game or an ambition to strive for the top? Should players be treated as tradable assets, or as the soul and symbol of the team?
The seemingly rational and long-term board of directors may fall into the short-sighted trap of greed and deviate from the original intention of the club's development; while the seemingly emotionally driven fans have never deviated from the essence of the team - they care about the team's performance, honor and sense of belonging. In the highly commercialized modern football, emotions and ideals are often bound by financial data, market rules and power struggles. There is little room for romanticism, but irrational romanticism is not a way to achieve more rational goals.
Thinking back to the beginning, Deportivo de La Coruña was not considered a big team, but then it suddenly dared to break all barriers and compete with the top teams, even though former chairman Lendoiro once led the team into bankruptcy and relegation due to poor decision-making. Yuan, but his journey of starting from scratch and leading the team to the top of La Liga has injected a unique temperament into the club: humility is not an excuse to settle for mediocrity, but starting from humility, he brings the belief in striving for excellence to the team.
Yeremay may become the new Fran of Deportivo de La Coruña (Francisco Javier González Pérez, the father of Nico González, who just joined Manchester City in the winter window and retired due to injury, dedicated his entire career to the legend of Deportivo de La Coruña), as the club's flag. In addition to Yeremay, Deportivo de La Coruña also promoted Mario Soriano (CAM) and David Mella (right winger, this guy is also worth a look, slightly less skilled but faster than Yeremay) from the youth team as the main players of the team. They also provide generous treatment and room for growth. This is what a team that aims to upgrade should do.
Now, Deportivo de La Coruña is facing a historic opportunity. The team is in good financial condition, and there are more players emerging from the youth training, and all these players, no matter what the reasons, have agreed with the development projects provided to them by the club and the Deportivo de La Coruña vision that meets their expectations. Even in the face of pursuit by higher-level clubs, they still choose to stay, which shows their cohesion.
If suitable centers and central defenders can be added next season, Deportivo de La Coruña will be a very competitive team in Segunda División (in fact, some teams downstream of La Liga this season may not be able to beat the current Deportivo de La Coruña), and are expected to impact La Liga. This is the way to advance without mediocrity, and this is the ambition that a "long-term project" should have.
Today's Deportivo de La Coruña is quite similar to Sevilla in the early 21st century: it has an excellent youth training academy, a group of discerning grassroots scouts, and the courage to give young players first-team opportunities. What they lack may just be a "Monkey" to turn all this potential into real success.