After China, the United States. Bought by the Rastar group in 2016, Espanyol experienced somewhat complicated years during the mandate of the Asian group, making the elevator between La Liga and D2, and always in the shadow of its neighbor, FC Barcelona. And recently, a new era began for CornellĂ , since the club was bought by Velocity Sports Partners, a group of American businessman Alan Pace, also owner of Burnley in England. Among the shareholders of this new project, we also find the legend of American football JJ Watt, who recently retired, and who we have already seen in the Catalan city. In total, 130 million euros were put on the table to buy the Barcelona team.
An acquisition which is part of the American group's desire to launch into multi-ownership, like Red Bull, City Football Group or BlueCo. Which logically did not necessarily please all the supporters pericosclearly not eager to become a subsidiary or just another toy in the eyes of its American investors. Aware of this initial rejection, Alan Pace also wanted to reassure everyone in Barcelona about the seriousness of the project and the desire to invest in helping the club progress, promising “world-class academies and infrastructure, to achieve long-term footballing success on and off the pitch, and to foster an open and transparent relationship with supporters”.
Europe in the viewfinder
Unlike Rastar, who had dangled many things to Espanyol fans, VSP wants to be careful in his public speeches. No promises or overly ambitious announcements, but a speech based on strong words, such as “club identity”which the American group explains that it wants to keep, and the “long-term”. There was thus no question of large investments in the transfer window, but of a desire to grow the club by relying on training or on the influx of tourists to Barcelona to increase revenues. Alan Pace still ventured to give a concrete objective, evoking a desire to settle in the first six places in the La Liga rankings over time. For the moment, no revolution has taken place internally, which is nevertheless the norm during a takeover of such magnitude. The two pillars of the club, Manolo Gonzalez, the coach, and Fran Garagarza, sporting director, have thus been maintained and everything indicates that it will stay like that.
It must be said that on the ground, things are going rather well. After 9 days of La Liga, the club is in sixth place, which was clearly not hoped for at the start, the club having finished two points above the first relegation last year. Especially since the Catalans have not had an easy schedule since they have already played against Real Madrid, AtlĂ©tico and Betis. The team has several interesting players in its ranks, such as the boy of the house Javi Puedo, the defender Carlos Romero, the full-back Omar El Hilali or the striker Roberto Fernandez, which can guarantee a certain level in the medium term, or possibly bring in interesting sums of money via a big sale. If it is utopian to imagine Espanyol competing with Barça, there is no doubt that if the project turns out to be serious, the Pericos should be able to free themselves from the mockery and jeers of the fans of their sworn enemy…
