Is not Jose Maria Duran of those people who have a hard time making headlines. Espanyol’s CEO usually speaks clearly and this Monday was no less as the star of the premiere of the program ’21’ on ‘Esport3’, where every Monday at 1:30 p.m. there will be a blue and white space on Catalan public television after six years without existing. Duran, in the interview, insisted on the “patrimony that we are building & rdquor;, both to refer to the entity’s movements in the market as well as to other strategic operations to lay the foundations for a Espanyol that in the years to come dreams of aspiring to greater heights.
The closing of the market has been very calm in the offices of the RCDE Stadium. The directors were “reachable & rdquor; but they wanted “not to be in the field & rdquor ;. And it is that far from the urgencies of other windows, the entity has just released Álvaro Vadillo on loan to Málaga and incorporated Tonny Vilhena from Krasnodar under the same condition, with which you have a purchase option. The wage margin was slim and the chips were covered. Only unexpected turn in the last hours, which there was not, with some loss the situation would have changed. There was speculation about possible destinations for Nany Dimata, which will continue in blue and white at least until the end of the course. And Arsenal rang for Thomas Raul. In that sense, José María Durán could not have been more concise.
“It was a punctual call that we hardly even wanted to hear. 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 & rdquor ;, he assured, playing down the matter. In addition, advanced a scoop. His clause is higher. “It’s 70 plus inflation, it’s close to 75. As prices are going up, so do our defenses & rdquor ;, he said.
There is a tense calm in the parakeet environment, which sees how a priori they will not go through hardships to save themselves but is disappointed to see that the team is not quite regular. Duran considers that “at Espanyol we are anxious to place the team where history has put it and even break historical ceilingsbut you have to look further. We have the budget we have and a squad that is worth what it is worth, fighting in positions 10-11 and we will continue working & rdquor ;, said the manager, who acknowledged that “in the Cup we had hope. The defeat in Mallorca hurt us all”.
About the reviews, especially for Rufete, indicated that “we are all subject to the opinion of the fans” and confirmed that the director “it is not renewed. It was agreed with the president that the situation would be reviewed at the end of the season.” However, Duran stressed that “we are creating a project and things are done step by step. It is one of the best in recent years but we still have to strengthen it. We are laying the foundations and we don’t have the need to sell players, something that hadn’t happened in the last 30 or 40 years.”
As for hot potatoes in the team as the renovations of Pedrosa or Melendo, recalled that “Espanyol is above everything” and warned that “We are prepared in case there are no agreements, but we hope to reach them.” He also sent a message of conviction in the project. “We will exhaust all the resources to have a more competitive team and for the shareholder to scratch his pocket as much as he can & rdquor ;, he pointed out in reference to Cheng Yansheng, of whom he added that “he is excited and would like to invest more money”, something that he already did with “the 38 million in June & rdquor; but it is limited by certain LaLiga regulations.
Another of the questions José María Durán was asked about was about the famous second sports city that the club wants to build to continue growing since right now it only has the Dani Jarque and space is limited, which “is holding back our development & rdquor ;. “Sant Adrià has four pitches and we need eight”, he indicated regarding Espanyol’s plans for the future.
The agreement with CVC will make it possible to have “the necessary money” and thus provide economic muscle to the entity, which for now will not use it in transfers. Durán assured that the road goes through “maintaining Sant Adrià” Y recognized that “Baix Llobregat would be the first option & rdquor; of this future sports city. The intention is that it has about “70,000 square meters & rdquor; and “that it be specialized in professional football so that the current one is dedicated to women’s football and business development,” he added.