In the summer of 2007, at just 21 years old, Javi López stayed with his friend Brachi at the Osuna gas station (Seville) to undertake an endless drive to Barcelona. With no other expectations than to pursue a professional career that had taken him from his hometown to the Betis quarry, he was now changing his scene to see if he had better luck at Espanyol. 13 years later, the captain terminates his contract after becoming the eighth player with the most First Division appearances in the history of the centennial Blue and White club.
The departure of Javi López puts an end to the first stage of parakeet history at the RCDE Stadium. That is clear from his goodbye, after debuting in 2009 at El Madrigal and consolidating since 2010 in the first team. In total, Javi López has played 252 games in First, 283 officials with the parakeet first team and 327 counting his time in the subsidiary in professional football, plus another year that he spent in Third, so he will have worn the Espanyol shirt in more than 360 encounters.
Javi López, the day of his debut in 2009.
Carlos Mira
The one from Osuna arrived at the parakeet subsidiary with Rubi as coach and it was with him himself coach, 12 years later, with whom he lived his best memory, that of qualifying for the Europa League. He began his career as a right winger, but little by little the technicians were delaying his position. Mauricio Pochettino placed him on the side, and Javi López, who was going to train every afternoon to improve in that demarcation, was consolidated.
From 2010 to 2016, he played an average of 32 league games per season. Nobody coughed on the right, also benefited by the coincidences that football brings, such as the serious injury of Felipe Mattioni, for whom the club invested three million, called to be the owner of this band. In that period, the Spanish it settled in the middle zone, flirting with Europe and the decline, always stuck at the equator of the table, battered by its serious economic problems.
Javi López.
Alex Caparros
From 2016 to 2020, Javi López's weight was less on the pitch but more accentuated in the dressing room. He assumed the captaincy and carried responsibility, sometimes obsessively, like the nights he spent without sleep with the threat of relegation after the purchase of Chen Yansheng and with Constantin Galca on the bench in the spring of 2016. From there, they appeared more injuries and competition, with Anaitz Arbilla, Roberto Rosales or Víctor Gómez, who were winning the game.
At 34 years old, Javi López will not be able to fulfill his desire to retire at Espanyol, enlarging the list of ‘one club man’ in football. His grotesque march (he renewed after confinement and now they terminate him) represents the new stage that the entity wants to start. Javi López will not go down in history neither for the quality of Dani Solsona, nor for the goals of Tamudo or Marañón nor for the charisma of Tommy N'Kono, but his perseverance has made him be in that privileged group with more matches in the history of Espanyol.