Spain are in crisis right now. Money is not the only problem here, buli does not have a good coverage. Players dont have the "star" image as much as epl and la liga has. Cardiff city gets more money from TV than Bayern. Less TV coverage, less over hyping implies less money required.
Well, much of the Los Che fans still prefer him to Barragán. His departure is attributed to his fall-out with Mendez, who pretty much now runs all of VAL's transfers. Mendez was looking to ship him off to Beşiktaş last summer, to which JP resisted. The latter consequently switched allegiance to a diff agency, and VAL manager Nuno (mendez' puppet) froze him out. With 6 months left on his contract, the club decided to release him.
He must be rusty given he hasn't played the last few months. Should be a decent signing otherwise. The VAL fans did liken him to Dani Alves..