Espanyol CEO Mao Ye said on Monday that the club's intention is for striker Raul de Tomas to "keep scoring goals" for the Catalan side, although he referred to the player's buyout clause in the event of a hypothetical departure.
The CEO acknowledged, in statements to 'TV3', that 70 million euros "is a good figure to continue building the team". In any case, Mao Ye insisted that there is "nothing" on the table regarding the future of the team's striker, whose contract expires on 30th June 2026.
The president's right-hand man, Chen Yansheng, recalled that Raul de Tomas is "a key player" for the club, who paid 22.5 million euros to Portuguese side Benfica for him in the 2020 winter transfer window: "He is an important part of the squad, but there are many important players in the group. We have to look after the players.
Mao Ye stressed that Espanyol do not need to sell players this summer to balance the books. The budget states that the club must bring in 20 million euros, although Mao Ye pointed out that there is no "financial need" to achieve this, although achieving it would be "positive".
When asked about the future coach of the first team, Mao Ye did not say who will take over from Vicente Moreno, but stressed the commitment to grassroots football: "We have to look at what model of play we want and which coach would fit in, without forgetting that this is a club project and not a specific name. Looking after the youth academy is important".
Regarding the latter, he was clear about players like Puado: "We would love it if the academy players could stay at home. That's what we did with Puado last year.