Josep Sánchez Llibre, currently president of the Foment del Treball and brother of Dani, boss of Espanyol from 1997 to 2011, spoke at length with his usual (and familiar) wit of the present of the club and from the past, the one who knew by heart so many years touring the interior of the club. Sánchez Llibre began with a clear statement: “I would like to be president, but I think it is very difficult that there could be another in the family.”
Among other things, because the club is now owned by Chen Yansheng, who owns more than 99% of the shares after buying the entity in 2016 from his own family. The politician joked about the “love story” that was born between his brother and the owner of Rastar Group. “He didn't like seafood, but he did like shellfish. I think that's why he bought the club.”he commented, while acknowledging that “Chen cleaned up Espanyol, it was necessary, but now we are not going through the best moments. But I think we will go straight up. We will win eight more games.”
“Dani risked his prestige and wanted Espanyol to make his brand known by putting advertising on the shirt. Thanks to Espanyol Dani is so successful in the market”
Regardless of the present, which he observes from a greater distance, the president of Foment answered the question as to whether Espanyol had been a good business for Dani, even more than his own company: “Thanks to Espanyol, to the long-term vision he had, he came out winning. When nobody wanted to bet on the club, Dani put his prestige at stake and wanted Espanyol to make his brand known by advertising on the shirt. Thanks to Espanyol Dani is so successful in the market“, he concluded.
Josep Sánchez Llibre, 72, joked again with the third member of the family, James Sánchez Llibre, a fictional brother that Dani invented when he worked as a surgeon in the United States. In the midst of this crazy reality, the politician, formerly of Unió, acknowledged that his brother “He had a flower, it was a talisman. He did many things at the club with few resources”. I even called the former mayor of Barcelona Xavi Trias, who at the time was harshly criticized by the blue and white fans, considering it a misfortune that his son-in-law was a parrot. Filing away rough edges, even Trias was applauded. Another miracle of the Sánchez Llibre.