Raúl de Tomás was always clear from the beginning of the summer that his intention was to leave Espanyol. He forced for it until the last day of the market. As revealed by Domingo Catoira, the player personally asked him to listen to an offer from Rayo Vallecano yesterday morning. The player wanted to leave for "a personal matter." But according to the club there was no agreement. The offer was insufficient. And De Tomás stayed, against his will. “He is affected”, said Catoira to conclude with a farce that seems to have many more chapters yet.
“His representative tells us of his intention to leave. Raúl tells me to listen to Rayo's offer. That he needs to leave and wants to return to Rayo Vallecano, that he has to return for a personal matter, ”explained the sports director.
Espanyol's sports director appeared to explain what happened in a surreal end to the market in which only Martin Braithwaite arrived. Neither a central, nor a winger, requests from Diego Martínez. And with a final negotiation by De Tomás that lasted until the last minute of the market.
To begin with, Catoira denied that there had been an agreement between the man from Madrid and Rayo. "There has been no offer throughout the summer, there has been a predisposition of the player to leave the club, and he asks us to listen to this offer. But we cannot accept everything. The end of the operation is that there was never a real agreement, that later it comes out that it does not enter through documentation, that is not true, ”he explained.
In addition to that, he also denied that the fact that De Tomás stayed conditioned other operations. “It is not true that yesterday there were signings pending from the sale of De Tomás. Another thing is that if he leaves you can make more signings. We prioritize in the needs the quality of the players over the number”. In this sense, the sports director explained that throughout the day they negotiated for the Mexican central defender César Montes, but once Monterrey changed the conditions, they decided to keep Simo instead of going to the market.
“It is obvious that it is not the best day for him. I have spoken with him and he is affected. But he is an asset to Espanyol. Yesterday he asked us to listen to this offer. The club understood that he should listen to her. Understanding that it was not the right one, there was no agreement, ”he summarized. Catoira wished that he "can return to normal in the next few days, that he recovers in quotes from the inconvenience (slip of the sports director) and return to training." However, he is aware that this "depends a lot on his predisposition to play." “As long as he is available, the coach will be able to count on him. But nobody is above Espanyol and that works for everyone", he explained.
Minutes before, Martin Braithwaite was presented, signing for the next three seasons from Barça. Mao Ye, CEO of the club, "congratulated you on crossing the diagonal."
The Dane explained that he chose Espanyol to be able to stay in Barcelona, but also because of "the club's project, the values and the coach's idea. For me it was a very easy decision, I'm happy to start". About Diego Martínez, Braithwaite said that "he wants energy, he wants to win every game, every training session is intense and I'm like him. I'm here to help the team, I'll work very hard to win every game".
The Dane is a striker, but it is not ruled out that he can play on the wing, where Martínez has fewer options. "I'm a striker and that's my goal, I like to score goals, but for me the most important thing is the team and I'll do what the coach tells me".
Finally, he assured that he is ready to make his debut this Sunday and also explained that Barça had never prohibited him from signing for Espanyol.
