Domingo Catoira, Espanyol’s new sports director after the dismissal of Francisco Joaquín Pérez Rufete, stated this Friday in his presentation at the RCDE Stadium that the new project should “re-illusion” the fans.
Catoira’s priority, with experience in the sports organization chart of Valladolid and Valencia, is to lead a project that should relaunch the club. That is why the entity will extend its contract, which ends in June 2023. “The future must be my hallmark, without giving up what has been done before,” he commented.
One of Catoira’s first decisions will be the appointment of the future coach of the first team: “He will be a key player and I hope we get it right because he will give us a lot of security at work. We have just fired a professional of integrity, who has clearly met his objectivesand now we must look ahead.
Regarding the planning of the squad for the next campaign, the new sporting director asserted that it is “soon” to carry out a “deep analysis” in this regard. In any case, Catoira did recognize that the timing of the decisions made “makes it easier for everything to be studied calmly.”
For its part, CEO Mao Ye insisted that this is “a new beginning and a new stage.” In this sense, the manager insisted that the club had “very clear decisions and when to make them”in reference to the dismissal of the coach, Vicente Moreno, and the sports director, Rufete.
Asked about the objectives, Mao Ye pointed out that the goal is to achieve “a bigger Espanyol in all senses” and explained that the economic resources will be “sufficient, but always limited”. “Good professionals must take advantage of what we have to get the most out of it,” he added.
Finally, the CEO was thoughtful and critical: “We must learn from the mistakes of the past, but without forgetting the suffering and struggle of these two years. We must give 120 percent because one hundred percent is not enough.”