The Madrid striker Raúl de Tomás assured in two interviews in As and in Relevo that Diego Martínez and Domingo Catoira "pushed" him to leave Espanyol. “They decided that he was not there. I did not agree with the decisions they were making and in the end everything got very dirty and the one who came out worse off was me, ”he explained.
The former Espanyol player regretted that “they tried to show that the bad guy in the movie was me and others, the good guys. It was not necessary. I deserved respect, after the years I had been there. Even if I left, they could have done things differently. A simple thank you would have been enough. I didn't need anything else. But it was the opposite. There were two people from the club, the coach Diego Martínez and the sports director Domingo Catoira, who decided that he would not be there. They were the only ones who wished that it would not continue, ”he explained.
The player criticized that he was made to see himself as a type of person that he is not. “On Sunday I greeted the entire Espanyol squad. My ex-colleagues came to hug me and wish me the best. If I really was that kind of person who sold out, people wouldn't have approached me. With that I stay. I don't have to prove anything. I'm not the best person in the world because I obviously have my flaws, but I'm not the one they painted."
De Tomás assures that he never intended to leave Espanyol and that he was happy in Barcelona. “I think the statistics speak for themselves. Those who know me and the fans knew perfectly well that I was a happy man there because performance does not deceive. When you perform well it's because you're good at your club, because you're good in the city, because you're good in general. But everything went awry.... I wish Espanyol the best in the future because it will always be a club that will be in my heart and no one is going to change that”.
De Tomás assures that they “pushed him and made me believe that I did not have to be there. When you're an important player, when you feel like an important player, when people love you, it's hard to swallow that two people at the club don't want you to be there. Given that, I had to make the best decision for myself, for my family, for my career. In the end I am a young player and I think I have to look forward and not stay in a place where I felt that they did not want me, ”he said.
“There were times when I felt very alone. I couldn't speak, I couldn't say what I felt. If I had spoken, I think everything would have been worse, if I had had to stay there... Because I did not agree with the decisions that Diego Martínez and Domingo Catoira were making and well, in the end I think everything got very dirty and the The worst off was me”.
Lastly, he referred to the night the market closed in which his departure to Rayo Vallecano could not be specified. “It was a bad night. We were in a hotel in Barcelona for many hours. He also had offers from Arab league clubs and so on. I was talking to the president on the phone and he really wanted to come here. I already know the club, I knew it would be fine, people were going to take care of me, I was at home, in Madrid... Between Espanyol, Rayo, the representatives... we didn't understand each other and time passed. Thats the reality. People may think that there was something else, but we were not able to reach an agreement and when we wanted to find out, it was past 12:00 a.m. ”, he concluded.
