El Espanyol, upside down

Like the world around him, unstable and changing, lives the Espanyol installed in an uncertainty that, in addition, is increasing every week that passes and approaches the moment of great decisions. The current qualifying situation – with the permanence still to be sealed, Europe as a unattainable challenge and the ethereal goal of the “consolidationmarked by the club– is perhaps only the most transitory of those questions, the mere tip of the iceberg of the multiple open folders that surround the blue-and-white entity.

From that same sporting point of view, and taking for granted that the team will continue in the First Division next season – it adds 33 points with ten games to go – the month of may will be key to resolve many issues. What the future on the bench of Vicente Moreno, who will have one more year left on his contract. Or that of the sports director who signed it, Francisco Joaquín Pérez Rufete, whose position runs out and whose renewal, according to the club, has been postponed until the end of this course. The final decision can be made by Chen Yansheng, partly by the CEO, José María Durán, or simply Rufete himself, in the latter case that determine to close a stage.

Also up in the air is the future of numerous football players. It is not only about the cases that they end their contract, like Diego López or Óscar Melendo, with firm but unfinished aspirations to continue at Espanyol, but also other flagships of the current team. What Sergi Darder and Adrià Pedrosa, who have another year left, although the logic of the market indicates that if they do not renew they may be open to leaving. Or the everlasting case of Thomas Raulwith a contract in force until the distant 2026 but always in the showcase for its high market value.

Not surprisingly, it should be remembered that Espanyol has a budget get capital gains from 20 million euros for the sale of players before next June 30 in order to balance the accounts and, even so, close the year with losses of 8.9 million still derived from the pandemic and the year in Second. It is true that LaLiga’s agreement with the venture capital entity CVC alleviates these amounts, but does not completely cancel them. Linked to this agreement, another of the uncertainties for the future focuses on the construction of a second sports city and the search for new income in the current one, through infrastructure such as a hotel.

But the mother of the lamb of this upside-down Espanyol is on his property. Today Chen Yansheng and the Chinese conglomerate Rastar Group continue to hold 99.6 percent of the share capital.as a result of an investment estimated at about 200 million between the purchase of shares or successive capital increases. No less true than this is that the club is immersed in a sale process with an investment group from the East Coast of the United Stateswhich has already presented a letter of intent as the first necessary step for the acquisition, and which has been negotiating its entry with full powers since November.

And, to curl the curl, as reported by Esports Cope Nor would it be ruled out now that Chen bought the shareholding package from his own company to free himself from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and thus supposedly be able to invest more comfortably, seeking the help of minority investors (that is, who would put up money so that he could continue to rule). In short, everything to do in a static and at the same time revolutionized Espanyol.