The last minutes of the first half between Spanish and Valenciaon Saturday, exemplify what has been the last stretch of the season for Raúl de Tomás. At 44 ‘, in a resounding blow to Thierry Correia, the only fault of him, he saw the yellow card that will prevent him from playing in Granada, on the last day. And just 120 seconds later he scored the equalizer for the parakeets, in their only shot, that celebrated listlesslyas had happened on Wednesday in Mendizorroza. The two faces of a RdT about which everyone asks the same question: will he wear the blue and white again?
LaLiga Santander
*Data updated as of May 16, 2022
It has been a magnificent season From the numerical point of view for the Madrilenian, who has not reached his highest levels in the Second Division –the 24 goals with Rayo Vallecano in 2017-18 nor the 23 that earned him the top scorer a year ago with Espanyol–, but if has surpassed his own records in the First Division with 17 goals, which were among the 14 he scored with Rayo three seasons ago. He has also distributed in 17 different meetingssomething that in key parakeet so only Rafa Marañón had achieved exactly 45 years ago. It was in that 1976-77 campaign when the legendary player from Olite reached the record for a parakeet in the same League: 22 goals.
To that much has not come De Tomás, who, however, has become the Espanyol’s second top scorer in the same First season throughout this 21st century. He stays two goals from the 19 of Raúl Tamudo in the 2003-04 season, but equals the 17 of Borja Iglesias in 2018-19 and Tamudo himself in 2001-02, while he has exceeded 16 of Gerard Moreno a course before. At 14 he stayed for example Sergio Garcíain the 2014-15 financial year, in 13 Luis Garcia the 2007-08 and in 12 Dani Osvaldo the 2010-11, to give an idea of the size of RdT.
With his future up in the air personal aspirations that you may have and especially for the convenience of Espanyol to sell –and more when it has a market and its clause amounts to 75 million– to reinvest in signingsthe other face of the striker has been not only the expulsions against Athletic Club and Betis, moments of disconnectionbut the moments of extra sports agitation that he has accumulated in this final stretch of the season. From Hook up with some partners on social media to your disagreement with Vicente Morenowhich he himself solved on Instagram, even going through the denial that he had to do on Friday about the information of a hypothetical signing by another team.
RdT not only has to know its team for next season, which until further notice will be a Espanyol for which he signed until 2026, but wait for a call to find out if you can go on vacation now or if you will have to wait until a month from now. It’s about the call-up of the Spanish National Team for the UEFA Nations League, whose first four days will be disputed by Luis Enrique’s men in June. And he has appeared in the last two calls. We will have to see to what extent a season finale in which a Zarra award has ended up escaping, for the top Spanish scorerwhich he had been holding all year.