Mundo Deportivo: Elche sign four players at the deadline, Lemar's condition remains uncertain

According to Mundo Deportivo, Elche completed squad reinforcements on September 2 by signing four new players at the final moment to prepare Martin Anselmi's team for the 2026-2027 season. The four players are Revivo, Ruben Sanchez, Lemar and Lomonaco. They already see themselves as members of Elche and hope to help the team achieve its first win of the season as soon as possible, ideally in Monday's fourth-round match against Real Sociedad.

However, the four players are not in the same condition at the start of the season. Two of them are in very good competitive shape and fit the rhythm expected at this point of the campaign, while the other two spent the summer before leaving their former clubs at the last moment and were barely used by their coaches.

Israeli player Revivo played seven official matches for Maccabi Tel Aviv in the 2026-2027 season across three different competitions. He appeared in three Europa League matches, two Conference League matches and two domestic league matches, completing all of them for a total of 630 minutes, with one goal and four assists.

Revivo is in good physical condition and has a positive mentality, taking an important step in his career by moving from Israel to Spain. His father also transferred to Celta in a very unusual way in the past. The only concerns about whether he can immediately enter the starting lineup are competition from Valera in the same position and the language issue, but the club hopes this will not become a burden. Elche's recent example is Affengruber.

Revivo is regarded as an important investment for Elche's future. He will compete with Valera for a starting role, while Valera's contract expires after next season and he may also adapt to other positions in Anselmi's tactical system. At least against Real Sociedad, Revivo is expected to begin on the bench and could make his debut in front of the new supporters.

Similar to the Israeli player, Lomonaco is also in good condition. Since July 26, he has played seven matches for Independiente Rivadavia in the Argentine Primera División, a club that has long faced crisis and pressure. In the last five rounds of the Argentine league, he played every minute, totaling 477 minutes.

His arrival should quickly ease the impact of Affengruber's absence. For Lomonaco, the question is how quickly he can adapt after traveling across the Atlantic. The club has great confidence in his ability and development path. In theory, Anselmi should be able to turn him into a regular option before the national team break at the end of September.

In terms of match fitness, the other two late arrivals are in a much worse position, especially Lemar. The French player is 30 years old and won the 2018 World Cup with France. That summer, Atletico Madrid paid 72 million euros to sign him. However, he has not played since May 23, in the Girona versus Elche match that helped Elche secure survival and sent the then opponents into the second division. He stopped being a starter from May 11 and has not completed a full match since January 31.

Last season, only that match saw him remain on the pitch for the full 90 minutes. Elche's initial goal for Lemar is to help him regain confidence and physical condition so that he can adapt to Anselmi's playing style, which demands a lot from players during high-intensity periods. Lemar is far from being considered an old player, and the offices at Martinez Valero are also being especially careful, hoping he feels at home as soon as he joins.

Finally, Ruben Sanchez has also not played this season, although he has maintained a fairly stable amount of playing time in recent seasons. At the end of last season, he started in four of Espanyol's final five matches, but this was still not enough to enter Manolo Gonzalez's plans for this season. Throughout the summer, he was clear that joining Elche was his priority, which is why the process lasted until so late.

At his position, Anselmi has several options, but none of these solutions have met expectations so far, meaning Ruben Sanchez also has an opportunity to receive more playing time in the short term. The four players who joined at the final moment have different situations, but from the moment they signed, they all knew they wanted to help as quickly as possible. Therefore, Elche could see more than one new signing make a debut against Real Sociedad.