The sporting and institutional drift of Espanyol, a club controlled remotely from China | Soccer

RCDE Espanyol’s season, now in the Second Division, is not going as expected. Led by Luis Miguel Ramis on the bench, who does not have great harmony with the fans, the team is unable to consolidate itself in the direct promotion positions, now third, although only two points from the lead. But without achieving more than two consecutive victories and only saved sportingly by Martin Braithwaite – 17 goals in 26 games, top scorer in the Second Division, after rebelling against the club in the summer – the team cannot find a game that allows them to show hierarchy and add pressure to its most immediate rivals. “Anything other than direct promotion is a colossal failure,” the Association of Small and Medium Shareholders of Espanyol (APMAE) states bluntly.

Two relegations in three years, few and questionable signings and a lack of sporting project, increase the impatience of the fans and call into question the management of the Chinese group RASTAR – majority shareholder since 2016 -, with Chen Yansheng at the helm from China (a few years ago). three years since he has not even set foot in Barcelona), and the current sports director, Fran Garagarza. “We don’t have a board, there is nothing,” says a former club manager. However, rumors have been growing around Espanyol—present for months—that RASTAR wants to sell, but cannot find a buyer. And the market value of the entity has plummeted: from 256 million to just under 100 in just one year, according to Marc Menchén, CEO of 2Playbook, a company that collaborates with LaLiga and that produces reports for First and Second teams. The problem is being in Second. “We are experiencing the worst moment in our history,” says the same former team manager.

The poor structure of the board, led by Yansheng, generates enormous discontent among fans. “The Board of Directors tries to convey a sense of normality; However, it is pure conformity,” the APMAE denounced in a statement on February 11. And they added: “There is no strategic plan, professional demand and competitiveness. “We are immersed in a sporting, social and institutional drift.”

Without being advised by any of the present or previous directors, all decisions are made in a conclave made up of only four people: Yansheng, current owner and president of the club, Mao Ye, CEO of the entity, Garagarza and Rafael Marañón, a former soccer player. who joined the board in 2020 and carries out representation duties. “A club cannot be run from 12,000 kilometers away,” criticizes a former club advisor. The president has not visited the facilities for three years, nor has the RCDE Stadium. “How many months has it been since a person with power has come down to the locker room to talk to the players?” claims the same former advisor.

Chen Yansheng, owner of RCD Espanyol, greets attendees before the start of the extraordinary meeting in 2019.Quique García (EFE)

The problems began after the first relegation, in 2020, according to a former manager at the time. RASTAR showed the exit door to important players—like Marc Roca and Gerard Moreno—and any hint of stability left with them. “It is the worst management in our history. We are the only club that has gone down spending 60 million on signings,” says a former manager present at the club for decades. “The Board of Directors is very far from the social reality of Espanyol and its day-to-day life,” explains the APMAE, RASTAR’s main counterweight. Nobody seems to find the key at Espanyol. Neither does the sports management and, along the way, Garagarza is singled out. “He is the big culprit because he is the architect of this team. He does animal things,” says a source with direct knowledge of the club. With the direct approval of the president, there is no figure controlling the work of the sports area.

The sporting and institutional situation has led to social disaffection. In the daily life of the street there is no longer any passion for Espanyol, despite the fact that the membership numbers are positive, 30,200, of which 25,400 subscribers, the best mark since the 2011-2012 season. In one year they have gained 3,719 subscribers, by resorting to a 50% price reduction campaign. The numbers, some former managers believe, are deceiving. “We are dead in the street, institutionally and in the media. “Before there were 20 or 25 journalists on any given morning, now there is no one left,” says a former senior executive at the entity.

“With RASTAR, Espanyol will be among the top four and six,” predicted former president Daniel Sánchez Llibre in 2015, when he announced that Ramón Condal and he were selling their shares, which amounted to 33%, with the club in First Division at that time. The financial situation of the entity was complicated. “One more day cannot go by with that gigantic debt to the Treasury,” Sánchez Llibre added. And it was not just a problem with the public administration, since in the summer of 2015 more than 100 million were still owed for the construction of the Cornellà stadium. The bet came out tails.

Eight years after his arrival, those predictions did not come true and rumors are increasing that Yansheng wants to sell the club. According to The Grada, A digital medium dedicated exclusively to following Espanyol news, RASTAR is asking for 120 million euros, plus an additional 50 if they achieve promotion. “There are no buyers at the price they need. It is impossible,” says the CEO of 2Playbook. And he adds: “A Second Division club is worth 100 million at most. To achieve more of that, you need a sporting stability that they don’t have.” The Chinese group, however, has not communicated what its intentions are and shareholders have been demanding information for months. “We request that we be involved in the decisions to transfer the property,” they say in the APMAE, who would welcome the sale.

The desperation is so great that a group of fans has come together to buy back Espanyol. The objective: raise between 10 and 15 million and find an investor for the owner, so that he can sell and there are partners on the Board. The call Perica Ambition joins the initiative Chen Go Home (Chen, go home, translated into Spanish), by the activist group Curva, who have placed banners in the Chinese consulates in Barcelona, Madrid and other European cities.

Nothing seems to be convincing Saudi or American investment funds—the potential buyers that RASTAR would be testing. Neither does the Barcelona brand. “Telling a foreign talent to come to Barcelona is not the same as telling them to come to Vigo,” Menchén points out mischievously. “Sharing the city with FC Barcelona is a challenge, but it is a project that has room to grow,” adds the CEO of 2Playbook. Espanyol’s via crucis coincides with Girona’s exponential growth. Míchel’s men, for Menchén, “have an easier time absorbing fans.” Those around Espanyol deny that they have been overwhelmed. “We have always helped them when they needed us,” claims a former manager.

“We are a sleeping giant for these people, but I hope and wish that we wake up soon and become great again,” wishes the same former director. “Never again will we have the suffering of seeing if the president sells or not. This is over,” declared Sánchez Llibre at the time of the sale. Years later, far from ending the uncertainty, Espanyol is more lost than ever. And the shadow of sells itself He plans again with great force. Now, to the joy of many.