Far from increasing the illusion as the days go by, Espanyol's situation has become cloudy due to the lack of renowned signings and after the first two League games, settled with one point out of six. The last days of the market seem decisive to know if Diego Martínez will finally have the willpower to take the "step forward" announced by the club at the end of last season and that justified the dismissal of coach Vicente Moreno.
With the aim of shedding light on the multiple pending operations, in addition to showing his involvement with the club and the new project, Chen Yansheng will land in Barcelona this week. Video conferences are over. The owner of the perica entity will preside over the box at the RCDE Stadium during the match against Real Madrid on Sunday. It will be the first contact with a crowd that in the defeat against Rayo already showed signs of being fed up with the austere transfer policy.
The president, blocked in China since the start of the pandemic due to measures against covid, will return to the Catalan capital two and a half years later thanks to the relaxation of restrictions. His agenda during his stay, which will be between a week and ten days, will be full of institutional meetings, including with federations and LaLiga, and he will attend the press to clarify the club's position on various issues.
Among other issues, Chen will have to respond to the possible sale of Espanyol, an idea that he has been planning for a long time and that gained more strength due to the Chinese government's obstacles to investing in foreign teams. Interested in acquiring the club are not lacking.
"The president has always been involved in sports," Mao Ye said in March, the day he was appointed CEO in place of José Maria Durán. Shortly after, Domingo Catoira took over the sports management, who will now have the first meeting with Chen in Barcelona to finalize the planning. "There is one player missing per line," warned Diego Martínez shortly before the arrival of striker Dani Gómez. The next signing will be Lazo, from Almería, in an operation that will send Embarba to the Andalusian club.
Despite the fact that from the club they transmit tranquility, the future of De Tomás is the hottest folder. The renewals of important players such as Darder and Pedrosa, now injured, are also pending. Chen has a lot of work ahead of him on his brief return to Barcelona.
