Jeremy Beren can be found on social media hereand if you’re hungry for more, find their best work here.
As the hours and minutes tick down on transfer deadline day earlier this month, ambitious Serie A club Como. he did the investigation regarding the availability of Getafe midfielder Luis Milla. Negotiations took place for the transfer of €7m; for a few million more, president Angel Torres could have sold his team’s best player.
If that had happened, Jose Bordalas would probably have resigned on the spot. And I wouldn’t blame him.
Instead, Milla stayed in the winter transfer window. Two weeks ago, Getafe took a big step towards safety with their first home win in three months, a 2-1 victory over Villarreal in which the 31-year-old again played a key role.
“Milla went wherever she wanted to go,” wrote Javi Teruel Diario AS.
Bordalas can go without much in the Coliseum. Such is life when you are the head coach of Getafe. His manager Torres willingly loaned Christantus Uche to Crystal Palace last summer, with the South London club agreeing to a buyout commitment of around €20 million. He also sold Omar Alderet, who is now a key defender for Bordalas, to Sunderland in a €12 million deal.
But Bordalas will not be able to do without midfielder Marshal Milla, who has played 2,024 of a possible 2,070 minutes in LaLiga this season. That’s 97.8% in available minutes, without counting the loss to Espanyol on December 13 (where he was suspended).
In a team built to fight strong players like Mauro Arambarri, Djene Dakonam, Adelkabir Abqar and Domingos Duarte, Milla is a siren song. More than just a dead ball expert for his club, the son of a Barcelona and Real Madrid midfielder brings Technicolor to Getafe’s black and white football.
“Arambarri gave the drive, and Milla gave the pause,” Teruel wrote of his performance on Saturday.
It is good to remember that Milla is a late bloomer. He did not feature in LaLiga until his 25-year-old season, when Granada signed him from Tenerife for five million euros. When Granada were relegated two years later, Milla moved to Madrid and signed with Getafe for the same fee.
🇪🇺 Top 5 Midfielders in the league: Passes in progress (PAdj)
◉ 26.86 – A. Wharton (Crystal Palace, 21)
◎ 25.01 — N. Moro (Bologna, 27)
◎ 24.86 – Fábio Vieira (Hamburger SV, 25)
◎ 24.70 — S. Serdar (Hellas Verona, 28)
◎ 24.52 — Jon Moncayola (Osasuna, 27)📊 Free trial:… pic.twitter.com/95kYslnS4S
– DataMB (@DataMB_) February 5, 2026
Milla is making up for lost time now, in his fourth season with Los Azulones. Milla is tied with Lamine Yamal who leads the league in assists with eight, who is already the best player in the Madrileno’s career. Only Yamal, Arda Guler, Edu Exposito and Kylian Mbappe created more chances than Milla with 52. among the most progressive students in Europe; for a team like Getafe, outplayed by everyone in the league except Oviedo, that quality is worth its weight in gold.
On Saturday against Villarreal – a team that has been in the Champions League places all season – Milla had no hand in the goal as he did against Alaves the previous matchday, when he slid in Luis Vazquez’s smooth finish to open the scoring. Having been sent off in the back-to-back, 2-0 defeat at La Ceramica in December, Milla won 11 of 12 tackles, recovered five and won four.
Undeclared yet fit for Getafe, Atleti youth product Milla has been among the most consistent midfielders this season. He was key to their four-game unbeaten run, which saw Getafe climb to 11th place in LaLiga with 29 points… despite scoring just 20 goals in 24 matches.
Peñi es mi pastor, nada me falta 🫡💙 pic.twitter.com/khChQQ29J4
– Getafe CF (@GetafeCF) February 15, 2026
Say what you will about their style of football, but few teams in LaLiga know it as well as Pepe Bordalas’ men. It’s hard not to have at least some respect for their active football, and how Bordalas continues to develop one of LaLiga’s smallest budgets – which was slightly extended in January to accommodate the loan arrivals of Vazquez, Martin Satriano and Zaid Romero.
“Getafe renewed,” he wrote AS’ Getafe slapped journalist Alvaro Ramos after Saturday’s game. “With new faces in the team and a restored identity, the team is once again an uncomfortable opponent that no one wants to face. The nightmare of November is behind them; today, at the Coliseum, the new season begins.”
It is a revival that cannot be understood without Milla, who paid his dues at Guijuelo, Fuenlabrada, Santa Cruz and Granada before receiving stripes as the general of Getafe.
