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The official announcement, which finally came on 10th June 2024, that Jagoba Arrasate had been appointed as the new Head Coach of Real Mallorca was welcomed on the island and, to an extent even considered something of a coup. The then 46-year-old from Berriatua had just completed a successful six-year spell at Osasuna, having tearfully announced just three months prior that he would not be renewing his contract – leaving as arguably one of the most successful managers in the Navarrese club’s history.

The appointment of Arrasate came with several expectations but two things stood out. Firstly, and somewhat obviously, that Mallorca could continue to move forward as a club and build on the recent success of not only maintaining their top-flight status, but also reaching the 2024 Copa del Rey final under Javier Aguirre.

Given Arrasate’s record of having taken Osasuna to the 2023 Copa del Rey final and having firmly established the club within the middle of the table, despite challenges on and off the field, even qualifying for the UEFA Europa Conference League on one occasion, he was considered a logical, even ideal, appointment for Real Mallorca – matching the club’s ambitions.

The second point of expectation that Arrasate’s appointment brought was purely about the football. Under Javier Aguirre, Mallorca had become a physical team, compact defensively and tactically drilled to play one of the highest lines in LaLiga.

However, the trade off for this was that the team became increasingly reliant on moments and set plays for goals – of which the team only mustered 33 across the 38 league games in his final season at the club, with only Rayo Vallecano (29) and Cadiz (26) scoring fewer. In fact, aside from Cadiz, the other two relegated teams Almeria (43) and Granada (38) both found the net more times than the Balearic side.

Conversely, and to Aguirre’s credit, Mallorca only conceded 44 goals – matching second-placed Barcelona, with just champions Real Madrid (26), Atletico Madrid (43) and Real Sociedad (39) conceding fewer.

Therein lies the problem though. This style of football became tiresome and turgid in the eyes of Mallorca fans. It was a case of ‘thanks for everything Javier, but now for something new’.

Arrasate’s arrival at Son Moix promised a welcome change in approach. The new signings brought in during the summer also suggested something different was coming, with Johan Mojica, a €1m arrival from Villarreal, adding pace and width in the left-back position. Meanwhile, the directness of Takuma Asano, coming on a free transfer from German side Vfl Bochum, gave the impression that Arrasate was looking to move away from the strict and strangulating Aguirre-ball.

There were other additions – Mateu Morey (free transfer from Borussia Dortmund), Robert Navarro (on loan from Real Sociedad) and Manu Morlanes (his loan spell maturing into a permanent transfer), but the investment – an outlay of just under €2.5m – was considered somewhat underwhelming by some Mallorca fans, particularly as the club had sold Amath Ndiaye (€2m to Real Valladolid) and first-choice goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic for €11m to Saudi side Al-Ittihad.

Nonetheless, Arrasate was able to utilise the squad to great effect in the first half of the new campaign – drawing 1-1 at home to Real Madrid on the opening day, and winning four out of five between matchdays four and eight, to reach a high of 6th in the table.

A run of six LaLiga games without defeat between 9th February (matchday 23) and 16th March (matchday 28) would also suggest the prospect of European football of some sort returning to the island of Mallorca for the 2025/26 season. However, just two wins during that period, and an inability to keep a clean sheet would see Arrasate change tactics, reverting from a back four to a back five.

This more conservative approach harked back to the Aguirre era, and with it the goals would start to dry up, with just three coming in the club’s next six fixtures.

Despite the drop off, Arrasate’s side found themselves still knocking on the door of European football with two games to go, as they took on a Getafe side in search of securing their Primera status, at Son Moix.

The Mallorca fans entered the stadium full of optimism, knowing a win would keep them in the hunt for UEFA competition on the final matchday of the campaign, in what could have been a ‘six-pointer’ against Rayo Vallecano.

However, a relatively abject display saw the visiting side rack up a 2-0 lead with 65 minutes on the clock, a tough scoreline for any side to overcome with 25 minutes left to play versus a Jose Bordalas side. Mallorca would breach the Getafe defence via a Cyle Latin goal in the 93rd minute, but it would be too little too late and the defeat meant the Mallorquin European dream was over.

A season which started so brightly and offered so much promise has not only ended in a whimper, but also been underlined by a notable feeling of negativity among fans.

The first half of the campaign saw Mallorca notch up 30 points, riding high and with fans hopeful that a platform of improved results would be accompanied by a slicker style of football.

However, with just three points left to play for and only 17 on the board during the second half of the campaign, there is not merely a sense of deflation, but instead a split in the fanbase with some feeling apathetic and others so disappointed that they turned on some of the players during the defeat to Getafe in the final game at Son Moix.

For example, Pablo Maffeo, who over the last few seasons has been one of the better performers in the squad, was subjected to chants of “¡Maffeo, vete ya!”, whilst Cyle Larin’s consolation goal saw him ‘celebrate’ by putting his finger to his lips to effectively gesture a “Ssshh!” to the ultra section of Mallorquinistas behind the goal.

This is ultimately a season in which Real Mallorca are on track to finish in the top half of the Primera for just the third time in 15 years, but it really doesn’t feel like that and the mood amongst the fans doesn’t seem to reflect that achievement either.

The change in mood is something which cannot have escaped the club’s hierarchy either, with matchday attendances at Son Moix having declined in the second half of the season quite notably.

For instance, in the first nine home games of the campaign, the average attendance was 19,622 (with the caveat that the opening day fixture was against Real Madrid and drew in a crowd of 23,010, and the ninth game being against Barcelona drawing a crowd of 22,352), whereas for the 10 home games in the second half of the campaign, the average attendance was just 17,495.

In fact, only on one occasion – the 25th January game against Real Betis – did the attendance in the second half of the season exceed 19,000, a figure that was reached in five out of the first nine games. There is, of course, more nuance to it than sheer numbers of bums on seats, but it’s hard to argue that the mood of Mallorquinistas isn’t being reflected in the attendances on matchdays.

From the outside looking in, it does feel like something hasn’t been quite right since Christmas and the club will have a lot of work to do over the summer if next season is going to be an improvement on this.

To put this season down as a disappointment, as some Mallorca fans have (not so) quietly began to say, on the one hand seems unreasonable. After all, this is only the club’s fourth season back in the Primera and consolidating that status must be the main objective for a club of Mallorca’s stature.

Moreover, with the club operating on a net transfer profit of +€11m this season, what could fans reasonably expect? The prospect of European football was a carrot that was nearly reached, but ultimately missed, and that has seemingly been allowed to shift perspectives.

Bigger clubs and bigger names than Jagoba Arrasate are afforded ‘transition seasons’, so why can’t that be afforded to Mallorca? Calm heads at the club will (rightly) call for patience and put this down as a season of transition and progress.