Alberto del Moral signs for Hajduk: Spanish midfielder arrives at Poljud until the summer of 2028
Alberto del Moral is Hajduk’s new player. The Split club announced on June 28, 2026, that the Spanish midfielder had signed a contract until the summer of 2028, giving the Poljud side a new solution in the middle of the pitch ahead of the continuation of the summer transfer window and preparations for the new season. According to Hajduk’s announcement, the 25-year-old footballer arrives as a free agent after terminating his contract with Real Oviedo, and at his new club he will wear the number 20 shirt. He spent the last season on loan at Córdoba, in Spain’s LaLiga Hypermotion, where he tried to regain continuity after a period in which he was followed by physical problems. Del Moral’s arrival fits into Hajduk’s search for a midfielder who can bring defensive stability, responsibility without the ball and additional solidity in the pressing phase.
The transfer was confirmed after Real Oviedo, a day earlier, according to an AS report and the club statement carried by that outlet, concluded a mutual termination of cooperation with the player whose contract with the Asturian club had been due to run until June 2027. That opened the way for his departure without a transfer fee, which is important for Hajduk both in a sporting and market sense. The Poljud club is getting a player who has already gone through demanding development levels of Spanish football, while entering an age at which he should combine experience from professional leagues with room for further progress. Del Moral was not brought in as a player with a lavish attacking output, but as a midfielder profile whose value is measured by positioning, discipline, duels and the ability to maintain the team’s balance. That was precisely the main message from Hajduk’s sporting department after the signing.
The profile of player Hajduk are looking for in midfield
Hajduk sporting director Robert Graf presented Del Moral as a disciplined and tactically educated footballer with pronounced defensive qualities. According to the club announcement carried by Croatian sports media, Graf sees him as a player who can bring intensity and balance to the midfield, but at the same time stressed that he will need a certain amount of time to reach full fitness. Such wording shows that Hajduk are not expecting only a short-term solution, but a player they want to gradually integrate into the competitive rhythm and the demands of the coaching staff. In modern football, the position of defensive or central midfielder is often crucial for controlling the transition from defence to attack, protecting the space in front of the centre-backs and maintaining compactness between the lines. Del Moral has most often been used precisely in that zone throughout his career, which makes his arrival a logical move if the goal is to increase the number of options in the central corridor.
The player himself, according to statements from the club announcement, pointed out that his first impressions were very good and that, in conversations with people from the club, he gained a strong impression of Hajduk’s size. He also stressed that he had come to prove himself and help the team, but also that he was ready to play whatever the coach asks of him. That flexibility is not unimportant because, in a long season, Hajduk need a squad capable of responding to different tactical scenarios: matches in which possession needs to be controlled, high-intensity encounters with many duels, as well as periods in which the team must protect a result. Del Moral is primarily described as a defensive midfielder, but his role could depend on the system, his partners in the midfield line and the pace at which he returns to optimal physical condition. For a player arriving from the Spanish second-tier environment, adapting to a new league and to a club with heavy public pressure will be just as important as the technical-tactical segment.
The path from Córdoba and Villarreal to Real Oviedo
Del Moral was born on July 20, 2000, in Villacañas, a town in the province of Toledo, and began his football path in the youth categories of Unión Adarve and CD Villacañas. In its presentation, Hajduk states that in 2017 he moved to the Córdoba academy, where he made his first senior appearances, first through the reserve team and then through the first team. Córdoba was an important development station for him because there he gradually got used to the senior rhythm, physical demands and responsibility in the midfield line. In the 2020/2021 season he became part of the first team, and then came a transfer to Villarreal, a club known for systematic work with young players and a strong reserve-team structure. In an official announcement from June 2021, Villarreal stated that Del Moral was arriving from Córdoba and signing for the reserve team for three seasons, until June 2024.
The period at Villarreal B was the most stable part of his career so far. According to the data Hajduk published in the player presentation, he made 97 appearances for Villarreal’s reserve team, confirming that he was not a passing member of the squad, but a player who had significant minutes and continuity. Villarreal highlighted his contribution in midfield in their own reports from that period, and one of the more notable matches was Villarreal B’s victory over Deportivo Alavés in March 2023, when Del Moral scored the goal for 1-0. That match is also important because it shows that, although he is not a midfielder whose profile is primarily valued through goals, he can threaten from the second line and react to loose balls on the edge of the penalty area. In the Spanish second division, he gained experience in a competition that demands technical neatness, but also a high level of tactical discipline.
The highlight of his time in Villarreal’s system was his debut for the first team in LaLiga. When bringing him in during the summer of 2024, Real Oviedo pointed out that Del Moral made his debut in the top tier of Spanish football in the 2022/2023 season wearing Villarreal’s shirt, while statistical services and match reports record an appearance against Athletic Club on October 30, 2022. Although it was a short episode, such a fact carries weight in assessing his development path because it shows he was close enough to the senior level of a LaLiga club to get an opportunity in an official match. After three seasons at Villarreal B, he moved to Real Oviedo, which announced in 2024 that it had signed him to a contract until June 2027. At Oviedo, according to club data, he made 12 official appearances before returning to Córdoba on loan.
Loans, injuries and the search for continuity
The most sensitive part of Del Moral’s recent career concerns continuity of appearances after leaving Villarreal’s system. Real Oviedo announced an agreement with Córdoba in January 2025 on a loan until the end of the season, and then in August 2025 a new loan to the same club was confirmed for the 2025/2026 season. Such a development shows that Córdoba remained a familiar environment for him and a place where he was supposed to get a bigger role than at Oviedo. Still, available reports from Spain speak of an interrupted season with physical problems. At the beginning of June 2026, Cadena SER reported that Del Moral was returning to Oviedo after an uneven season at Córdoba and stated that in the 2025/2026 competitive year he collected 21 appearances, 10 starts and 939 minutes.
The same source states that he missed part of February and March due to problems in the rib area and that in May, in a match against Granada, he sustained a muscle injury that affected the final stretch of the season. This is important context for Hajduk’s assessment because it explains why the club’s communication mentions the need for the player to be given time to reach full fitness. In sporting terms, his arrival is not only a question of quality on paper, but also of workload management, an individual training plan and gradual introduction into the competitive rhythm. If he stabilizes physically, Hajduk will get a midfielder with experience from the Spanish second division and Villarreal’s development environment. If the problems with continuity continue, the coaching staff will have to carefully dose his minutes and adjust expectations.
The termination with Real Oviedo further accelerated the outcome. On June 27, 2026, AS reported that Del Moral was not in coach Julián Calero’s plans for the new project and that the contract termination was part of a broader squad reshuffle. The same report states that Real Oviedo assessed that another loan would not be the best solution because the player would be entering the final year of his contract, without a clear perspective for a future transfer. For Hajduk, such a situation meant an opportunity to bring in without a transfer fee a player who is still in a relatively early phase of his senior career, but already has enough matches not to arrive as an unknown project. In practice, this is the type of transfer in which the club takes on a certain sporting risk, but tries to balance it with a medium-length contract and a clear role in the squad.
What Del Moral can bring to Hajduk
In tactical terms, Del Moral most naturally fits as a player in front of the defensive line or as part of a midfield pair that has to close spaces behind more attack-oriented teammates. His basic task will probably not be to create a large number of direct chances, but to maintain structure, cover the full-backs’ wide advances, apply timely pressure on the opposing midfielder and distribute simply after winning the ball. According to LaLiga data, he is a midfielder 185 centimetres tall, which can help him in duels and defending set pieces, although height alone is not enough without proper reading of the game. In recent seasons, Hajduk have often sought stability in the middle of the pitch, especially in matches in which possession has to be protected from quick opposition transitions. Del Moral’s profile points to a player who should reduce the number of such open situations.
An important element will also be the speed of adaptation to the football environment in Split, where the pressure of results and fans’ expectations can be considerably different from those in most Spanish second-tier surroundings. Hajduk is a club with a large fan base, a strong identity and a highly emotional public relationship with the team, so new players are often expected to respond quickly and show a clear level of commitment. For Del Moral, the first weeks could therefore be crucial in creating an impression, but not necessarily in the final assessment of his value. Since the sporting director has already publicly announced the need for patience regarding his fitness, it is more realistic to expect gradual introduction than immediate full minutes in every match. If he manages to string together several weeks of work without health setbacks, his competitiveness in the middle of the pitch could quickly increase.
With this move, Hajduk also gain additional versatility in match planning. In encounters where a firmer block is needed, Del Moral can be an option for securing the space in front of the centre-backs. In matches against opponents who leave more space between the lines, he could serve as a midfielder who wins second balls and quickly forwards them ahead. His Spanish experience could be useful in situations that require calmness in possession, but the key will be how quickly he absorbs the automatisms of the new team. Unlike strikers or wingers, whose impact is often immediately visible through goals and assists, players of his profile are sometimes noticed most when they are absent: through lost balance, poorer space coverage or late reactions in defensive transition.
A transfer with a clear message, but also open questions
Del Moral’s arrival can be read as Hajduk’s attempt to strengthen the foundation of the team, not only its end product in attack. The club description emphasizes words such as discipline, professionalism, versatility and tactical responsibility, which indicates that a stabilizing role is expected from him. Such transfers rarely create the immediate effect that arrivals of strikers or well-known creators do, but they can be decisive for the team’s balance during the season. It is especially important that Del Moral arrives without a transfer fee, so the investment primarily concerns the contract, adaptation and the work of the coaching staff with the player. Given the contract until the summer of 2028, Hajduk have clearly shown that they do not see him merely as short-term squad filling.
Open questions nevertheless remain. The first concerns physical readiness after a season in which, according to Spanish reports, there were interruptions due to injuries. The second concerns adaptation to a new competition, a new dressing room and a different rhythm of expectations. The third question is tactical: will he be used as the lone defensive midfielder, as part of a midfield duo, or as a player who comes on to close out matches in which Hajduk have a result advantage. The answers to those questions will not come through the signing of the contract, but through preparations, the first official appearances and the way the coaching staff manages his minutes. For now, the most important thing has been confirmed: Alberto del Moral is a new Hajduk player, he will wear number 20 and arrives in Split with a contract that gives him enough time to impose himself, but also with an obligation to quickly justify the trust of the club that brought him in as a reinforcement for midfield.
Sources:
- HNK Hajduk Split – official announcement on the arrival of Alberto del Moral, contract duration, free-agent status and shirt number (link)
- Sportske novosti / Jutarnji list – carried club announcement, statements by sporting director Robert Graf and the player’s first reactions after signing (link)
- Real Oviedo – official 2024 announcement on the arrival of Alberto del Moral from Villarreal B and contract until June 2027 (link)
- Real Oviedo – official announcement on the agreement with Córdoba for a new loan of the player until the end of the 2025/2026 season (link)
- Villarreal CF – official announcement on Alberto del Moral’s transfer from Córdoba to Villarreal B in 2021 (link)
- Villarreal CF – club report on the Villarreal B – Deportivo Alavés match and Alberto del Moral’s goal in March 2023 (link)
- Cadena SER Asturias – report on Del Moral’s return to Real Oviedo after his loan at Córdoba, minutes and injuries in the 2025/2026 season (link)
- AS – report on the termination of the contract between Real Oviedo and Alberto del Moral on June 27, 2026 (link)
- LaLiga – player profile with basic biographical and statistical data from LaLiga Hypermotion (link)