The players sensed the coming crisis last summer. When Valencia returned to preseason training, many of its members did so with one thought on their minds: Get out, as soon as possible.
Some grumbled among themselves, going through the motions on the field as they waited for the calls from their agents that escape routes had been found. Others were more proactive. Half a dozen or so approached Pako Ayestarán, the third manager they had played for in a year, to ask to be allowed to leave.
What concerned Ayestarán was not that the players wanted to go but that they did not seem to mind where they went.