On the last day of January and also final day of the winter transfer window, 1. FSV Mainz 05 have been busy. The Bundesliga side brought in one new face, while letting one go.

Rodriguez out, Quaison in

Firstly José Rodriguez, who arrived at Mainz during the summer, has left the club on loan to La Liga side, Malaga CF until the end of the season. The player wants more game time as he appeared just five times for the Nüllfunfer. According to the club sporting director, Rouven Schröder, they simply followed the desire of the 22-year-old midfielder: "He really wanted to take advantage of this chance to get more playing time at another club."

One the other hand, the Rhineland-Palatinate club completed signing of Robin Quaison from Palermo, an Italian side which currently play in Serie A. The Swede signed a four-year-deal until 2021. The attacking midfielder has been in Italy since 2014 and played 70 games for the Rosaneri. The arrival can be seen as a replacement for Yunus Malli, who left for VfL Wolfsburg earlier in January.

The right-footer can play occasionally as a right midfielder but he is better as a number 10. Morever, at 23 years old, the player is already experienced as he played UEFA Europa League with his first club, AIK Solna. He also won the 2015 UEFA European under-21 Championship with Sweden. He has featured for the national team, and he made his debut for them in 2013 at the age of 20. Since then, has has five caps for his nation.

Everyone delighted with the move

On the club's official website Quaison as well as Mainz's porting director, Rouven Schröder had his say. The latter praised his experience as well as his capacity to reach his full potential at Mainz: "He established himself well in Serie A and brings a high level of experience, to us. But at the same time he still has the capacity to develop further and we’re excited he has chosen to do that with Mainz."

Then, the head coach of the Bundesliga side, Martin Schmidt also spoke about the qualities of his new signing: "He is physically strong, dynamic player who reads the game very well. He’s a clever player who will bring a lot to our style of play going forward."

Finally, the player himself showed his happiness to arrive at his new club and also a new league: “I took a detailed look at the philosophy of the club, the team and the staff. I liked what I saw. I see myself as a pretty straightforward player, who likes to have the ball at his feet." He added, "I’m very excited about this move, and I cannot wait to meet my new teammates and get out on the pitch.”

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Chloe Gallot
Between Ultimo Diez and everywhere else