The whole world of football was facing an anomalous market –Just check the closing date– marked by COVID-19, which in the case of Espanyol multiplied as a result of a demotion that reduced the wage bill by half allowed by LaLiga, from the 86 million record last season to the nearly 40 today. However, and despite also the fact that hardly a footballer with a poster resigns himself to playing in Segunda, the perico club has emerged remarkably successful in precisely the most convulsive context possible.
The summary is that Espanyol, unlike what could be guessed in the month of July, in full debacle due to relegation, not only has he not dismantled his staff but he has only really transferred what he wanted. In that sense, from the first moment it was clear that its strategic sale would be Marc Roca, because it is a youth squad whose departure would only bring economic benefits, and closed it last Sunday no less than Bayern Munich, the current European champion, for about nine million fixed and five in variables.
The parakeet club has been able to retain values of the caliber of Raúl de Tomás, Leandro Cabrera or Sergi Darder, for those who have received offers that have been discarded, and who will receive a significantly lower salary this year in Second than they had until two months ago. The key will henceforth be your performance.
Five additions to upload
In the arrivals chapter, Espanyol has been known to handle an adverse situation, with a change of LaLiga rules that has affected him until the last second. On the one hand, the sale of Roca does has allowed Keidi Bare to enroll, which has constituted the highest purchase (two million fixed to be paid to Malaga) and, at the same time, a risky operation with a happy ending.
On the other hand, it has not prevented – despite the accounts that the club itself was monitoring – that follow the entity in negative, slightly above the salary limit set by the employer, which has prolonged until the last moment the arrival of a long-awaited extreme. Early on Monday they were still trading for Hernani Jorge Santos with Levante (whose economic pretensions threw him back) until efforts were directed towards Celta and Álvaro Vadillo, whose assignment with purchase option was closed late at night, despite the fact that to offset the wage bill Álex López and Víctor Campuzano were not released, who in practice goes from having a subsidiary's number to a professional one.
Fran Mérida, Espanyol player
RCD Espanyol
In that sense, and proof of the economic straits is that even one of the five signings, Óscar Gil, has been registered with the subsidiary's player file to circumvent the cap (the same as the canterano Pol Lozano or Nico Melamed, professionals for practical purposes), while Fran Mérida, 'Miguelón' Llambrich and the aforementioned Bare have obtained the first team's number, among other reasons, because they are no longer U23.
The best signing, Vicente Moreno
What did not come was a reference 'nine' to accompany Raúl de Tomás, and yet Espanyol is satisfied with being able to keep from the first to the last day your demand with respect to such desirable players that they could easily military in Champions zone teams. For not having sold them out, in other words.
And equally the club wins for being able to count, although sometimes it is not valued as part of the market, with Vicente Moreno, a coach hired not only to get on the team this season but to command a project that will return him to his place in the First Division. Now the ball will dictate sentence. And in January the market will reopen. Until then, it's time to play and win.