Barely 72 hours after the Espanyol sports project led by Francisco Rufete and Vicente Moreno, the entity’s CEO, was blown up, Mao Ye, tried to shed light on the darkness in which the team has ended up submerging this season. He did not give excessive clues despite undergoing an interview of almost 40 minutes where he reviewed current issues, from the new coach to the future of Raúl de Tomás. He opened the season with the striker from Madrid.
“It was a great financial and sporting bet,” Mao started, recalling that the club made the most expensive signing in history, paying 22.5 million. “He was a great player but he didn’t give optimal performance in other teams. The best version of RdT has been seen here. Espanyol took him to the National Team. We are happy, he is a great asset. Puado’s renewal was also. RdT is an important piece but there are many important pieces in the team, you have to take care of them, they must be pillars and take them into account“, explained the CEO, who later assessed the blue and white striker.
“Our idea is that he continues to score more goals here. 70 million could be a good figure to continue building the team. I can’t speculate. There is nothing on the table“, he recalled, while reiterating that, although 20 million sales revenues were budgeted at the Shareholders’ Meeting before June 30, it is not necessary to carry out this operation. “If there are no 20 million profits, there will be losses. It does not mean that we are forced to sell. The president has been assuming this loss for two years. The problem is liquidity, it is more important than the benefit“, declared the CEO in the program 21 of Esport3.
Apart from RdT, the economic aspect and the “flexibility” that there will be this next season with some parameters of the salary limit, Mao philosophized about the club model and the future coach but has not yet specified anything, waiting for news that “excites people”. Espanyol “needs its own model”, and this is based “on the quarry”. He related these two concepts to the figure of the coach, the cornerstone of the new course. “We have to look at what football model and what type of coach would fit in. Without forgetting that this project is for the club, not for a specific coach. There is an important youth academy factor,” he said.
Raul de Tomas.
Joan M. Bascu
Mao on Chen: “He didn’t win the lottery”
To build this model, and pending market movements, Mao made it clear that Catoira will have “resources” both personal and material, but that he will not give any more clues since “if I say that we are over the limit, for example, we will pay more; if I say we have needs, we will sell for less.” A hermeticism that will be unraveling with the passing of days and the first movements.
Mao revealed that they have proposals from architects to improve access to the stadium and that the club is working on future subscriptions, without specifying. If he expanded when talking about Chen’s feeling and his balance after six years at Espanyol. “It is a path of ignorance, from having to trust professionals, to now having more confidence in oneself. He now knows when and how to do things. He knows more about Spanish football, he has more sensitivity. He is a self-made president. He has not won the lottery, he has generated it in the industry. Everything is based on his effort. He identifies with the club. Espanyol shares your values,” he argued, while clearing up the rumors of sale. “We don’t have a plan B. It’s normal that there are interested parties, we have a great club.”