“Rufete entered and Espanyol stopped spending the money well”

Was a colloquium on the future of Espanyola crucial aspect in a few weeks in which the negotiation between Chen Yansheng and Rastar Groupcurrent owners, with a American investment group. And this was dealt with under the baton of the APMAE (Association of Petits i Mitjans Shareholders of l’Espanyol), with the presence of ACE. But if someone’s ears must have been ringing about what was being said at the Center Cívic de les Cotxeres de Sants, in Barcelona, ​​it was not only the president, but especially the current sports director, Francisco Joaquín Pérez Rufete. He was remembered above all by one of the speakers, Mr. former general manager parakeet Roger Guaschwho has broken his silence since he was dismissed in December 2019.

He already shot with a Guasch bullet in the first speaking time that the moderator gave him, the journalist Rachel Mateos. “I would have liked to see a club representative here,” he said. And he stuck out his chest: “I was lucky enough to present the best Espanyol accounts in its history, thanks to Chen. To achieve this we had to sell Gerard Moreno and Borja Iglesias, but they were well sold, because of their clauses,” he recalled. And he went on the attack: “80 million have been spent on transfers but it has not translated into thinking big. It is true that RdT is giving results, but if we make the whole list Since Rufete, who was responsible for the signings, came in, the opportunity to spend the money that was being generated was left aside. Two or three years have been lost“, he claimed.

Guasch left harsh sentences, such as “we can all make mistakes, but if you’re wrong out of ten, nine must think you’re wrong too much“. Or the catchphrase: “The year that the best Espanyol accounts were presented, we went down to Second. It is not understood”, he added. An apocalyptic panorama from the sporting point of view, which, however, clarified: “The balance is positive, because although it has not been done at this time, Espanyol has the capacity to do it now”.

“Perhaps it has come the time to have a different project, closer“, valued the former general director, already focused on the future of Espanyol. “I wouldn’t rule out a sale.“, he opined, “and it is normal that he (referring to Chen) wants an ROI (return on his investment in the club). It’s about finding the moment, that he accepts the amount, and that without getting into China’s political issues,” he stressed. “If the members cannot buy the club, let someone come and develop it. I do not find it wrong to sell it“, he acknowledged.

Oliveró and next year’s “great leap”

A different position was offered by another of the speakers, the former Vice President Sergio Oliveró. “Chen will sell if he wants to sell, which I doubt“He slipped. And he added:” You may be concerned about who is selling it, noor leave it in the hands of anyone but someone who is going to make it grow. and that honors him. Espanyol does not have one offer, but many, but they have not accepted them”, he recorded in the minutes, to value that “it is one of the most healthy clubs in the First Division, she is in the trigger, she is a candy expert for a lot of people. How many people in the world would like to buy a healthy club, from the First Division and in Barcelona?‘ he wondered aloud.

However, Oliveró advocated another way out of the current structure. “We are moving in a budget of 65 million annually, and our qualitative leap is about 110Like Betis, for example. So, now a capital increase of 40 million is needed to put the team in the top six”. According to the former manager, it should be a group of parakeets who pooled that amount to become minority shareholders, “with voice and without vote” and contribute to the growth of the club. “We are in an excellent moment, I am convinced that next year Espanyol will make the leap“.

Bosch, “tired of consolidation”

“If Chen’s stance is to keep things as they are now, super grateful and the door of the stadium open to a new investor“, Held Charles Boschcurrent president of the APMAE, who had his predecessors among the spectators Ramon Rius, Ferran Marin and Jorge Garcia. “We should aspire to be a top-6 club“, he commented, while throwing a dart at the club’s current objectives, especially at a word popularized by the current general manager, José María Durán: “I’m tired of consolidation. Espanyol is a consolidated club in First, founder, the author of the first LaLiga goal. I would like to rebel against this situation“.

Between unanimous approvals of Chen’s heritage and economic project, debate around the social area and criticism of the sports section, he gave the first public act of the APMAE since the pandemic began to be encouraged to organize more events to commemorate his twentieth anniversary. “I encourage Espanyol to think big once and for all“, resolved the former CEO, who insisted on his final statement: “I see the future positively, but you have to think big and make an ambitious project.”