As is customary every year, Chen Yansheng, president of Espanyol and owner of Rastar Group, opened the Club's General Shareholders' Meeting with a very self-critical speech. The Chinese president is aware that the club is going through a worrying moment both sportingly and economically, which is why he wanted to vindicate his commitment to the entity. The leader assumed "responsibility at all levels" in person, but wanted to convey confidence that he would return to the elite as soon as possible. "The only mistake that I will never allow myself is to give up leading Espanyol," he claimed in his telematic intervention.
Given the bad times that the club is experiencing, Chen explained that his continuity at the head of the club is guaranteed "despite the noise and interested rumors. My council and I remain committed to the club. We want to return to the First Division. We will execute a strategic plan that goes beyond the short term. Redefining the horizon unequivocally involves refocusing efforts and putting attention on the quarry," Chen explained.
This new approach at all levels was born this summer after the umpteenth sporting failure. "We made a huge (economic) effort that was not rewarded. This summer we carried out an in-depth analysis of the situation and decided to face changes framed in a strategic plan that positions this season as one of promotion and a change in trend at all levels. "We have renewed sports leadership to have coherence from the first team to the base."
The key piece in this transformation process is Fran Garagarza, the sports director and Chen's strong man in this area. In his speech, the former Eibar sports director pointed out that the three pillars must be "football, training and family. The three 'f's' are fundamental. We have a responsibility to educate in values. Demand, dedication and passion have to give us results in the quarry with 24/7 dedication to achieve the objectives," he said.
In the economic aspect, Espanyol presented some very worrying numbers, with losses in the 2022/2023 season of 22 million, the largest since Chen has owned the club, and to which we must add the 8.8 million expected losses for this exercise. All of this will make up accumulated losses of 54 million since the 2020-21 financial year. However, the club's net debt amounts to 67 million (36 long-term and 31 short-term).
After approving all the points for the majority of shares owned by Rastar Group, Chen Yansheng returned to address the partners, thanking them for their excellent response in this campaign and assured that they will rectify “past mistakes” and seek “a positive direction.” and optimistic. We will work tirelessly to return Espanyol to the top category," words that the parakeet partner has already heard before.
The main opposition to Chen Yansheng, the Associació de Petits i Mitjans Accionistes de l'Espanyol (APMAE), which has consolidated itself as the main group of Shareholders by having more than 12,000 delegated shares, defended an alternative management model based on a institutional refoundation. “We have voted against Social Management due to the disastrous sporting results and the heavy losses of the last 2 years. We oppose the current composition of the Board of Directors, since we consider that the incorporation of Independent Directors assigned to different functional areas would improve the development of a new club model and its growth and development," said Carlos Bosch Sansa, president of the APMAE..
