Espanyol's star player wants to follow in Tamudo's footsteps.

BarcelonaEspanyol's summer market will have two undisputed protagonists, the two main architects of the permanence. On the one hand, Joan Garcia, a series that will be resolved when one of the clubs willing to pay his release is able to entice him. The Cornellà-El Prat offices have been considering his departure for months, and now we just have to wait and see what his destination will be. Meanwhile, and no less important, the renewal of Javi Puado, considered the priority deal of this market.

The forward, whose contract expires on June 30, decided to curb the interest of other clubs until knowing what league Espanyol would play in and, therefore, what sporting and financial project they would be able to offer him. Once his permanence was assured, both parties have accelerated negotiations in recent days. "Continuing at Espanyol is one of the possibilities that Javi and his entourage would like," a person close to the player admitted to ARA, who sees it as feasible that he could make a final decision within a week.

A scenario that the club wants to secure as soon as possible, as sporting director Fran Garagarza acknowledged last Wednesday in his appearance to review the season. "For us, he's a role model: for his professionalism, his demanding nature, and his leadership, and for being a role model for the youth system. The good news is that he wants to be at Espanyol, that's excellent. He's a true parakeet," he stated. His Blue and Whites' support, as well as his positive view of the project that has been presented to him, could be key to tipping the balance in a negotiation in which, as already happened in 2021, a considerable pay raise will be necessary.

"He's a player we have to work hard to keep him. There's a demanding financial situation that needs to be analyzed, but we have to get him there. We have to take steps and accelerate everything now that La Liga is over," Garagarza acknowledged. If there's no unexpected twist, this back-and-forth deal will be finalized in a few days with Puado signing a new contract that will make him the highest-paid player on the squad.

The eleventh highest scorer in the history of the blue and white team

A status that matches his performance: no player has scored more goals than him since his debut with the first team in 2018. He has 57 in 211 games. Raúl de Tomás turned 45; Braithwaite, 32; Darder, 24; Borja Iglesias, 23; and Joselu, 17. Except for the Balearic midfielder, the rest are forwards with more fleeting spells at the club than that of the Barcelona native, who for many years has been in his shadow contributing goals and defensive sacrifice.

However, he has been a key player in the 2020-21 (12 goals) and 2023-24 (16, inclusive) promotions. the two from the decisive match against Oviedo). He has also been one of them during this season's permanence, in which he has scored 12 goals, the last of which came in the decisive match against Las Palmas. He is Espanyol's all-time top scorer, tied with Orlando Jiménez. top 10: He is joined by Eldemiro (58), José María (59), Luis García (60), Rosendo Hernández (66) and Xavier Marcet (68). Having just turned 27, it would not be unreasonable to think that he could be among the top five scorers. Sixteen goals separate him from Michel Pineda (73). Further away are the only four killers with over a hundred goals: Julián Arcas (108), Ángel Calvo (139), Raúl Tamudo (140) and Rafa Marañón (142). Puado, who arrived at Espanyol in 2014, wants to follow in the footsteps of Tamudo who, like him, also had to go out on loan for a few months before becoming Espanyol's star player.