Marqués, the wayward of Rayo and Espanyol

In August 2009, a few weeks after the inauguration of the RCDE Stadium and the death of Dani Jarque, still with a shocked Espanyol and trying to turn the page to start the championship, a footballer arrived in Sant Adrià for a test. Something unusual these days, common decades ago. Nobody had communicated it when the journalists present in those open-door sessions noticed that end with the shaved head, which did not correspond to any of the subsidiary player. Agent Manel Ferrer, who also represented Ivan de la Peña, was another of the spectators. Minutes later it was made official that Fernando Marquis he was on trial and had to convince Mauricio Pochettino.

And he did. In that training session, the skills of a 25-year-old player at that time, raised at Rayo Vallecano and who had passed through Atlético de Madrid and Racing de Santander, were seen. A wayward on and off the field (at the Cantabrian club he spent five days without going to training after a positive for breathalyzer or refused to weigh himself in another training session) that that season he played 21 games with the Parakeet team, scored a goal and reached earn a position. But Marqués' ambition ran into the management of now PSG coach Mauricio Pochettino. The Madrilenian asked for more minutes and the coach could not guarantee them. His time in the parakeet team lasted a year and then he went to Italian Parma.

A premature premiere and only 62 games in First

At just 17 years old, Marqués made his debut in the Rayo first team. The footballer dominated both legs, he was fast, skilled and with great technique. That led him to sign for the Cantabrian team and later for Atlético, where he would play nine games in two seasons that he alternated with the subsidiary, leaving details of his quality but without succeeding. “He played soccer but he wasn't a footballer”, say those who have followed his career in that stage, in which Marqués lost the elite wagon quickly. Two years at the Greek Iraklis precede his time at Espanyol.

After his two years in Parma, where he did not work either, he returned to Spain and chained several campaigns in Second B and Third teams. In total, he only played 62 games in the First Division (Italy and Spain) scoring two goals, one of them with the perico team. He only started 26 games. Now retired, Marqués has returned to Rayo as Antonio Amaya's second coach at Rayo C, a team created this season.

The history of Marqués is one of many that unite Rayo and Espanyol, two clubs that have exchanged numerous players throughout history. Raúl Tamudo, Moisés Arteaga or Toni Jiménez, three famous parrots, have dressed the fringe. Now Adrián Embarba or Raúl de Tomás represent these communicating vessels.