The coach making his own million-euro move

The managerial career of Luis García Plaza is singular for a variety of reasons. The most striking is that this is the second time he has been prepared to pay out of his own pocket to be released from a contract. The first came in 2008, when he paid Benidorm 50,000 euros to be permitted to take charge of Levante. Three years later, after guiding modest Valencia club first to promotion from Segunda to Primera División and then keeping the club there with a ninth-placed finish, García is once again to open his wallet to leave the east coast and take the reins at Getafe, a club with almost unlimited spending power after being acquired by Royal Emirates Group in April.

On this occasion, García will have to boost Levante's coffers by a cool one million euros to be allowed to make the switch to the capital. Getafe, meanwhile, has offered the Madrid-born García the same amount each season to repeat the trick of fashioning a side to punch considerably above its weight. In the case of Getafe, a top-six finish and European qualification is the goal come this time next year.

"Too much importance is given to coaches. We are just conductors"

"I have given a lot to Levante, I gave them my soul, and Levante has given me a lot as well; the club taught me how to fight. I leave as a better coach and a better person," said an emotional García during his farewell press conference. The outgoing coach broke down in tears as he recited a list of thankyous to his co-workers and staff.

From his humble beginnings in the upper echelons of the regional divisions, in charge of Altea, García passed through Elche (currently in the playoffs for promotion to Primera División) after a spell at Villarreal B in a steady rise up the tiers of Spanish soccer. The greatest eulogies for the 39-year-old have come from his players at Levante - which operates on the top flight's lowest budget; "We have 12 million euros, Real Madrid and Barça

460 million" - from whom García drew the maximum possible in terms of performance, largely through the team spirit he fostered in the locker room. One of the greatest compliments was delivered by midfielder Xavi Torres, a former pupil of Pep Guardiola at Barcelona B. "Luis is very similar to Pep."

"The main thing is the players," García opined in an interview with EL PAÍS in March. "Too much importance is given to coaches. We are just conductors of the group with behavioral guidelines. What is truly important is to create something like a joint fund, to demand a lot of the players and make them part of something."

In this understanding with his players García is akin to Luis Aragonés, the European Championship-winning former coach of Spain. "I went running to see him at an Atlético training session at the Amorós college, where I was studying the first year of the baccalaureate," García recalls. It's educational to see how Luis has adapted to the times. My other point of reference is [former Valencia and Liverpool boss] Rafa Benítez, the first coach to reach the elite without being a famous player," adds García, who plied his own playing career in Spain's less glamorous divisions. In his managerial career one statistic stands out - his teams rarely end matches on level terms. "I prefer to lose a game that could be tied and win another that could also end in a tie."

As a player, who operated either as a right back or a central defender, García spent eight years in Atlético's youth ranks - "I used to watch them with my dad. I've had moments of joy, and I've suffered. It's a team that marks you, like Levante" - and then played for Yeclano, Rayo Vallecano, Talavera and Benidorm. During his time in charge of Levante, García lived in a hotel, spending time with his family, who live in Altea, at the weekends. Now back in Madrid he is closer to his family home and Atlético, of which he is a self-confessed supporter.

And, of course, he has a release clause in his contract with Getafe that, if it comes to it, he could conceivably pay himself if it meant taking a new step forward in his career.