“We will not let Raúl de Tomás leave in the middle of the season”

Espanyol recognizes that Arsenal asked about Raúl de Tomás in this winter market that rushes its hours. “It was a punctual call that we hardly even wanted to hear”, admitted the CEO, Jose Maria Duran, guest at the premiere of the program ‘21‘, which Esport 3 will broadcast every Monday and which will be entirely dedicated to the parakeet theme. But the executive did not stop there, who directly rules out the striker’s departure and scorer, at least until next July.

“Our position here is clear. We are building a heritage and we will not let the players leave in any way, least of all Raúl de Tomás and at this moment, in the middle of the season”, sentenced Durán, who advanced a news item: “Raúl no longer has a clause of 70 million, but due to inflation it is almost 75. Prices are going up, but so are our defenses”, stated the sporting general director, who does not expect any news in this final sprint of the market either.

“Rufete is not renovated”

The other proper name these days, as a result of the team’s losing streak in January, has been that of the sports director, Francisco Joaquin Perez Rufete, questioned by the environment. Durán stressed that “this is football. We are all subject to the opinion of our fansAnd we must listen to them. Then there is the world of Twitter and journalists who immediately get the blood to their heads. In June the president will decide on Rufete, on me, on the whole world”, he indicated, and pointed out: “Rufete is not renewed. It was agreed with the president that at the end of the season we would review the situation and we would negotiate for the future. It’s a normal situation.”

“Breaking the historical ceiling”

Despite the poor results in this last stretch, and with 27 points in the table, the CEO dared to ensure that “At Espanyol we are anxious to place the team where it has historically been, and even break the historical ceiling. Now we are building a heritage, the template is worth what it is worth, between the 10-11 position, and we will fight to do better”. “Ambition is to have the squad that we have, to have rejected sales offers. We are appreciated more outside our environment than within the fears that we generate ourselves, “he said.

Business with the Sports City

About the use of the money contributed by CVC, which at the moment is not used in signings, Durán did indicate that “we need eight fields (Currently they have four in the Ciudad Deportiva Dani Jarque), and with CVC we will have the necessary money for this investment”. “The most viable”, he indicated, “is maintain Sant Adrià and have a second sports city of 70,000 square meters, in the Baix Llobregat area. That it is specialized in professional football so that the current one is dedicated to women’s football and business development“, specific.