“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Espanyol can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Espanyol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Espanyol hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Javi Hernàndez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Espanyol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Antoniu Roca. 2‑1 against Málaga, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings25 Oct 2027
Pol Lozano was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.29. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Espanyol told Antoniu Roca something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Mateo Rubio on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Espanyol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Máximo Magnoli has just signed for Espanyol, and for once the answer mattered.
Cartagena held the lead for 2 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Espanyol answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.
Darío was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Espanyol, and 4 appearances in 13 say he has earned the hearing.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Espanyol. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Juan Vergara has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
37 graduates, from a department now rated 15 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Espanyol can pretend not to have heard.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Espanyol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Espanyol hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Espanyol, another week without a signature from Marko Dmitrović.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Javi Puado has come out of that comparison in the side, and Espanyol have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Espanyol hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
8 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Mateo Rubio after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The ambition story running the other way, and the one nobody tells: a footballer asking for a smaller stage, fewer cameras and a crowd that does not turn. It is not weakness and it is very rarely reported as anything else.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Edu Expósito. 2‑1 against Lugo, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Omar Sadik has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Player ratings20 Sep 2027
Edu Expósito was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.16. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Ander Cantero and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Mateo Rubio kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Espanyol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Every footballer has an answer to the question about his boyhood club, and most of them never get to act on it. Brandon Mejía has, at Espanyol, and the first month will show what that does to a man.
Leandro Cabrera and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Player ratings13 Sep 2027
Javi Puado was on a different afternoon to everybody else
9.67. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Valencia have kept their man, and Espanyol go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Espanyol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Espanyol have gone to Málaga with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Pere Milla reports back to Espanyol with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Boardroom6 Sep 2027
Espanyol close the window on a squad of their own making
25 in and 13 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $18.2M — a club that wants Chupete enough to be asked twice.
Edu Expósito was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The name of Marcos Fernández has come up in conversations Espanyol were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Real Madrid have kept their man, and Espanyol go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Espanyol can pretend not to have heard.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sevilla have kept their man, and Espanyol go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
7 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Mateo Rubio after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.26 for the rest of it.
Successful dribbles: 24. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Kike García was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Oihan Sánchez is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Espanyol interviewed the field and appointed the corridor: Mateo Rubio keeps the job he had been doing in all but title. Sometimes the safest pair of hands is the one already holding the wheel.
The phone has started ringing about Pere Milla again, and this time the name on the line is Unionistas. Espanyol are listening politely and promising nothing.
Espanyol asked and Sevilla said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Espanyol, and 0 appearances in 5 say he has earned the hearing.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Espanyol know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
What was a back-page link has become a chant, and the chant is not friendly. Espanyol would rather it were settled quietly, and it has stopped being quiet.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Espanyol, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Espanyol can pretend not to have heard.
39 days with the chair empty, a list of names that grows and shrinks by the day, and not one signature on anything. Every week that passes takes the best candidates off it.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Real Madrid have kept their man, and Espanyol go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Espanyol know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The table has started to be checked before the results are in, and that is always the tell. Nobody at Espanyol says the word out loud, and everybody in the building is thinking it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Espanyol, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
SquadEdu Expósito looks at the other side of the line
The offer from Racing Ferrol for Justin Smith was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Espanyol asked and Sevilla said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Espanyol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
8 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Espanyol, and both men came out saying it was fine.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Espanyol will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Edu Expósito had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Justin Smith was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Espanyol can pretend not to have heard.
The deal that would have taken Omar El Hilali to Huesca has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Espanyol with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
The offer from Racing Ferrol for Pere Milla was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Espanyol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sevilla have kept their man, and Espanyol go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Espanyol, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Espanyol know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Espanyol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Deportivo La Coruña paid $9.6M and Espanyol took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
The offer went to Osasuna this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $1.2M — a club that wants Rufino Lucero enough to be asked twice.
11 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
Espanyol asked and Elche said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
In brief
SquadWords at Espanyol training over how hard people work
The dugoutTyrhys Dolan knocks on the manager’s door
The arithmetic ran out, and everybody could see it coming from a distance. The hard summer starts now, and next season's fixtures will be full of unfamiliar names.
The end came on a Tuesday, as these things usually do: a short meeting, a shorter statement, and Álvaro Hernández clearing his office by noon. Football’s cruellest ritual, performed to schedule.
The fee is $10.3M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Almería drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
The official line will be that it was routine. It was not routine, the timing says so, and every person in that room knows what the next bad result costs.
“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Mateo Rubio recited it perfectly.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Espanyol hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Omar El Hilali was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Position 19 and 30 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Espanyol and Almería have settled on $10.3M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
The phone has started ringing about Omar El Hilali again, and this time the name on the line is Huesca. Espanyol are listening politely and promising nothing.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Leandro Cabrera and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Rafel Bauzà is on it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Espanyol have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The offer from Racing Ferrol for Pere Milla was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Zaragoza paid $3.6M and Espanyol took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Espanyol asked and Sevilla said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Espanyol know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Vanja Drkušić is on it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Espanyol, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Espanyol, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Espanyol people have started saying his name in the past tense.
The phone has started ringing about Pere Milla again, and this time the name on the line is Racing Ferrol. Espanyol are listening politely and promising nothing.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Espanyol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Pere Milla trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Álex Calatrava is on it.
Marko Dmitrović has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Espanyol, and it is not being withdrawn.
Unai Núñez was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Espanyol, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Position 19 and 30 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The terraces31 May 2027
The mood at Espanyol has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Kike García was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Jofre Carreras has his answer from Espanyol; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Squad31 May 2027
5 new faces, and Espanyol are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 30 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Edu Expósito and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Edu Expósito trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 1‑1, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jofre Carreras, and the manager let it.
The dugout17 May 2027
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Álvaro Hernández, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Chances created: 7. Nothing on the scoresheet and everything in the match: the pass before the pass, over and over, until the defence stopped guessing right.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Espanyol can pretend not to have heard.
Leandro Cabrera was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Álvaro Hernández after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Espanyol has been clear about where Ángel Fortuño stands, which is more than many ever get.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
7 goals in 37 games at Mirandés — numbers that travel home faster than he does. Somebody at Espanyol updates a spreadsheet every Monday, and it makes better reading each week.
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Álvaro Hernández has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
8 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and Villarreal were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Espanyol hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
A 1‑0 win over Villarreal, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Bryan Zaragoza was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.27. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Pol Lozano
8 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Pol Lozano has his answer from Espanyol; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The ambition story running backwards, and the one nobody tells: a footballer who wants a smaller ground, fewer cameras and a crowd that does not turn. It is not weakness and it is rarely reported as anything else.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
7 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Espanyol pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The dugout19 Apr 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Álvaro Hernández left the room before anybody could ask which.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Chances created: 10. Not on the scoresheet and not remotely anonymous — a passing performance that pulled a defence apart without leaving a mark on the column that gets read.
6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Kike García was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Espanyol, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
Successful dribbles: 23. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Espanyol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Nothing about the week ahead is ordinary. Barcelona on Saturday, a town that has already started talking about it, and a dressing room that does not need telling what it means.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Espanyol know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Espanyol, and both men came out saying it was fine.
What was a back-page link has become a chant, and the chant is not friendly. Espanyol would rather it were settled quietly, and it has stopped being quiet.
A side in position 14 visits next. The result will not make anybody’s season and it could quietly break the shape of one, which is why the manager has been watching the video since Sunday.
Successful dribbles: 18. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
The dugout22 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Álvaro Hernández left the room before anybody could ask which.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Vanja Drkušić is on it.
Vanja Drkušić and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout15 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Álvaro Hernández was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Espanyol dressing room was either.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Andoni Gorosabel is on it.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Espanyol would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
Athletic Bilbao next, and one man in the Espanyol dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
Nobody at Espanyol is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
0‑3 against Real Madrid, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
Vanja Drkušić was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Espanyol pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
The dugout8 Mar 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Álvaro Hernández left the room before anybody could ask which.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Espanyol can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Espanyol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He has had enough of the noise. Whether Espanyol can be a quieter place for him, or whether the only cure is a move somewhere the phone-ins are gentler, is a question for the next few months.
Whether it was the goalkeeper or the ten in front of him is the argument that will fill every conversation in town this week. 1 saves does not settle it either way.
Two goals and a mark of 8.76 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It had gone 11 games. The players did not celebrate like men who had won a match; they celebrated like men who had been let out of something.
Player ratings22 Feb 2027
Jorge Salinas, 19, plays like he has been here for years — 7.80
A mark of 7.80 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 19-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Espanyol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Javi Puado. 3‑1 against Valencia, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
He is 19 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
He has had enough of the noise. Whether Espanyol can be a quieter place for him, or whether the only cure is a move somewhere the phone-ins are gentler, is a question for the next few months.
In brief
The dugoutEdu Expósito knocks on the manager’s door
11 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Álvaro Hernández after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Espanyol, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Espanyol can pretend not to have heard.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 14 combined actions and a mark of 6.92, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Álvaro Hernández left the room before anybody could ask which.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Nobody at Espanyol will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Espanyol, and it is not being withdrawn.
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Player ratings1 Feb 2027
Up for the corner, and Urko González delivers — 7.68
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Urko González scored, was marked 7.68, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Boardroom1 Feb 2027
Deadline passes with 3 signed and 3 gone
That is the business done at Espanyol until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Álvaro Hernández after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Álex Calatrava
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Espanyol, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Espanyol people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
The offer from Granada for Álex Calatrava was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Vanja Drkušić and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Álvaro Hernández after 1‑3, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Espanyol have lost him in all but the paperwork.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Espanyol can pretend not to have heard.
The deal with Racing Santander is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Add another name to the list: Castellón have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Clemens Riedel. The answer from Espanyol has not changed — yet.
Edu Expósito and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Álvaro Hernández after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
Nobody at Espanyol will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Espanyol know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Espanyol will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
0‑3 to Villarreal, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout21 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Álvaro Hernández left the room before anybody could ask which.
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Álex Calatrava is on it.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Sevilla in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Pol Lozano
A 1‑0 win over Levante, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Juan Vergara, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.70
A mark of 7.70 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings14 Dec 2026
Álex Calatrava was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.04. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Level with 88 minutes on the clock, after an afternoon Espanyol had all but put away. Alavés will call it a point earned; the home dressing room will call it two given away, and both of them are right.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Bryan Zaragoza
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Espanyol heard it as anything else.
The chances are being made and something is happening between the making and the finishing. 4 matches now, and the anxiety in the ground arrives a little earlier every week.
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑3 Álvaro Hernández left the room before anybody could ask which.
The ambition story running backwards, and the one nobody tells: a footballer who wants a smaller ground, fewer cameras and a crowd that does not turn. It is not weakness and it is rarely reported as anything else.
3 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
Nothing about the week ahead is ordinary. Barcelona on Saturday, a town that has already started talking about it, and a dressing room that does not need telling what it means.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Espanyol, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
Leandro Cabrera and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Nobody at Espanyol is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
At 34 he has taken a place rather than been given one, and somebody else has to find something to say about it. Espanyol have a decision that made itself.
“If we are going to be beaten, let it not be because somebody in here could not be bothered.” He stood up and said it in front of everybody, which is a thing a squad remembers about a man for years.
Kike García and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Jofre Carreras has his answer from Espanyol; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Something was said to Pau Navarro and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Athletic Bilbao next, and one man in the Espanyol dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Espanyol that is a harder question to answer.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Pau Navarro signs something — a contract at Espanyol or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jofre Carreras trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The hardest thing about being 21 in a senior side is that nobody makes allowances. Rafel Bauzà did not need any: 8.12, and he looked the most comfortable man on the pitch.
Quilindschy Hartman was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Darío has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
Marked 8.33 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Successful dribbles: 14. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
0‑5 against Real Madrid, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Espanyol heard it as anything else.
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑5 defeat, delivered by Álvaro Hernández to a room that had heard them before.
5 saves does not settle the argument about whose fault it was, and the argument will run all week. Goalkeepers carry these scorelines whoever caused them.
Squad2 Nov 2026
A place in the month's best eleven for Pau Navarro
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Pau Navarro has come out of that comparison in the side, and Espanyol have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
The ambition story running backwards, and the one nobody tells: a footballer who wants a smaller ground, fewer cameras and a crowd that does not turn. It is not weakness and it is rarely reported as anything else.
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Pau Navarro has moved up it.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Álex Calatrava
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
9 signings in three months. Every one of them may be an upgrade and the team can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild that never appears in the transfer-window verdicts.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Álvaro Hernández could afford to be generous.
Nobody at Espanyol is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
11 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.
In brief
The dugoutLeandro Cabrera is not enjoying his job description
At 23 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
At 25 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.
Successful dribbles: 17. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Valencia? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Espanyol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Valencia in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Espanyol. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 21 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Álvaro Hernández kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
In brief
The dugoutEdu Expósito is not enjoying his job description
Leandro Cabrera and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad28 Sep 2026
9 new faces, and Espanyol are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Álvaro Hernández after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Girona in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
The manager wanted a different profile for this opponent, which is a real football reason and no consolation. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
In brief
The dugoutVanja Drkušić asks for a word with the manager
Two goals and a mark of 8.44 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Espanyol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against Atlético Madrid.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Ángel Fortuño has his answer from Espanyol; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Espanyol, and it is not being withdrawn.
1‑2 to Getafe, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
The dugout14 Sep 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Álvaro Hernández to a room that had heard them before.
He used to wear the other shirt. On Saturday he plays against Elche in this one, and whatever he says this week about it being just another game will be untrue.
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
His past walked in ahead of him. Players who have been where he has been get a hearing in a dressing room before they have earned one, and he has it for as long as his form does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Espanyol can pretend not to have heard.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Espanyol close the window on a squad of their own making
21 in and 1 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Espanyol asked and Benfica said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Gabriel Moscardo is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Espanyol than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
The offer went to Las Palmas this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
10 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 1‑2 defeat, delivered by Álvaro Hernández to a room that had heard them before.
He has had enough of the noise. Whether Espanyol can be a quieter place for him, or whether the only cure is a move somewhere the phone-ins are gentler, is a question for the next few months.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
Pau Navarro is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Espanyol are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
In brief
The dugoutThe plan did not have a place for Pol Lozano
7.99, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Vanja Drkušić was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Fernando Moya and Espanyol agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Álvaro Hernández kept it short after the 3‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Bryan Zaragoza’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Espanyol needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The chase for Pau Navarro ended with $22.4M changing hands and Villarreal out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Boardroom17 Aug 2026
4 academy players handed senior numbers at Espanyol
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Espanyol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Espanyol asked and Girona said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Nil Giménez has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Eduardo Esteban has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Nothing about this will be in a press release. A plan went upstairs, came back rejected, and the version of the club that would have existed in three years' time just quietly stopped being possible.
Espanyol have gone to Villarreal with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $24.8M — a club that wants Pau Navarro enough to be asked twice.
Kike García was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Minnesota United FC have kept their man, and Espanyol go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Biel Diez has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Miguel Hidalgo is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Nicolás Morales has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Espanyol heard it as anything else.
Still no offer on the table, and Omar El Hilali’s deal keeps shrinking. In boardroom language, silence this long stops being an oversight and starts being an answer.
Squad3 Aug 2026
7 new faces, and Espanyol are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Marko Dmitrović trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.