Chen, without debt and before doubts

They exist as of the types of Espanyol. That of the chassis – surely the most important in the long term -, totally healthy and greased. And the bodywork – the course, the club model, the medium-term objectives -, which continues to generate uncertainty, no matter how much the descent was repaired at the first time and in the middle of a perfect pandemic storm. These two clubs in one will coexist this Thursday in the telematic celebration of the Shareholders’ Meeting, in which Chen Yansheng can give guidelines, connected to his computer from Guangdong, China, on what do you want to be Espanyol when you grow up.

The owner and president owes the club a historic decline in net debt, which as of June 30, 2021 marks a floor long before the indebtedness for the construction of the RCDE Stadium: 20.31 million. It assumes a reduction of 56% year-on-year with respect to the 46’46 million of 2020 – verbatim of the capital increase that Chen himself covered by 38 million – and 85% since his landing at Espanyol, since it was located in 133 million at the end of the 2014-15 fiscal year. Just a decade ago, in 2011, to get an idea of ​​this enormous consolidation, the net debt of the Perica entity reached the 148 million.

However, not even Chen has been able to prevent the approval of the first year with losses under his mandate, specifically of 11,406,915 euros last season, and that even a second is budgeted, 8,969,000 euros for the current year 2021-22, which may vary after the emergence of CVC – a LaLiga project to which the club continues to support – and, above all, depending on the sale of footballers that they end up materializing.

Because that’s the other hot piece of information on the accounts to be approved: Espanyol budgets a profit of 20 million euros for this season for the transfer of footballers. That is, before June 30, 2022. Inevitably, names like Raúl de Tomás and Adrià Pedrosa will give a lot to talk about, with this approach of the club, in the coming months. In exercise 2020-21, the benefit in that concept was 9.63 million (mainly, the departure of Marc Roca to Bayern Munich) and in the 2019-20, amounted to 29,90 (with Mario Hermoso to Atlético de Madrid and Borja Iglesias, to Betis).

Sell ​​or continue to increase capital are the main weapons of a Espanyol that, however, also foresees grow in television rights (from 43.25 a 55,21 million), in fertilizers (from 0.16 for the pandemic to 7,38) and, with considerable merit for the local and global situation, in marketing, advertising and sponsorships: from 4.96 million in a context of Second to 12,19 in this campaign. It also increases, on the contrary, the spending on sports staff, from 39.30 to 53.30 million, which are far in any case of the 69.25 of the course of the descent.

In global terms, the net worth has practically tripled in the last two years, from 43.14 to 126.67 million, and the working capital is still negative-50 million), but not as much as 12 months ago (-58.67). Figures and more figures that do not reveal the sporting future of the team, the classic “if the ball enters”, but they do show a strong and financially healthy Espanyol, in a scenario in which they repeatedly appear club sale rumors -Or on the one hand-, that Chen and the board have systematically denied, as they will surely repeat this Thursday, in a Shareholders’ Meeting without debt but with doubts.