The Espanyol's pending summer homework

BarcelonaWith less than two weeks to go before the start of the League, Espanyol still has a lot of work to do in the transfer market. Manolo González's squad is incomplete and everything suggests that the Galician coach will start competing officially with a team under construction. Although Monchi warned that he wanted to carry out an aggressive plan, a small revolution with the arrival of many new faces, the fact is that at the beginning of August the white-and-blue team has only signed three footballers.

The first signing was that of the Catalan attacking midfielder Àlex Calatrava, a long-time desire of Manolo González. The 'periquito' coach had already wanted him the previous summer and also a handful of years ago, when he was managing Badalona and the Barcelona player was starting to make a name for himself in Catalan semi-professional football. The white-and-blue club made an effort to sign him, disbursing five million euros. He is the only one of the new signings who has arrived at Espanyol on a permanent basis.

The agreement between the white-and-blues and Burnley, which is also under the Velocity Sports umbrella, allowed for the loan signing of Quilindschy Hartman, a highly-rated Dutch left-back whose mission is to replace Carlos Romero, now at Villarreal. Gabriel Moscardo, a young defensive-minded midfielder from Brazil, also landed at Cornellà-El Prat on loan, in this case from PSG.

Urgency at the back

Espanyol's recent pre-season matches, three consecutive draws against Sabadell, Burnley, and Middlesbrough, confirmed that Monchi still has a lot of homework to do. With five goals conceded during the English tour, the white-and-blues' main urgencies are at the back. Without Fernando Calero, who left at the end of June with a free transfer, Manolo González is confident that they will bring him one or two reliable centre-backs who can compete for a starting spot with Leandro Cabrera and Clemens Riedel.

The young Adama Timera, with significant minutes in pre-season, will be the fourth or fifth centre-back because Pablo Ramón has been transferred to Racing de Santander and it is expected that Miguel Rubio, who is not counted on, will also leave the club in the coming days. The same applies to right-back Rubén Sánchez. José Salinas (Málaga) and Antoniu Roca (Mallorca) have already done so.

The departure operation is key to freeing up player registrations and salary mass that will allow new players to arrive for a squad that is missing an organizing midfielder, a different profile from Pol Lozano, Urko González, Edu Expósito, and Gabriel Moscardo. The departure of Cyril Ngonge and Roca opens the door for the arrival of a winger with imbalance. It is another of Monchi's priorities in the final stretch of the market.

Kike's injury, another headache

This Tuesday it was confirmed that Kike García suffered a lesion in the tendon of the right leg's hamstring that required surgery. Last season's top scorer will be out for at least two or three months. His absence creates a worrying gap in the Catalan team's forward line –Javi Puado is not yet available– and opens up the debate about whether to sign another new player; Manolo only has Roberto Fernández, Pere Milla, and Marcos Fernández, who has returned to Espanyol after a successful loan spell at Ceuta.

With three goals, the Cambrils attacker has been one of the sensations of the white-and-blue pre-season. His emergence, as well as that of Javi Hernández and Rafa Bauza, all of them protagonists with goals and assists, have appeased the criticism from the environment regarding the lack of signings. From now until September 1st, Monchi and Manolo will have to decide if they see them ready to be part of the first team squad or if they will look for a new loan for them. Roger Hinojo has already convinced them and will be Hartman's theoretical substitute at left-back.

Monchi Territory

He has many folders open on the table, but the confidence in Monchi's work is absolute. Busy days are coming at the Cornellà-El Prat offices. The man from Cadiz is an expert at maximizing the economic resources available to him and moves like a fish in water in the final days of the market. He has always argued that a club like Espanyol or Sevilla must be largely nourished by market opportunities, which usually appear at the end of the transfer window. That is when his endless contact list and the negotiating capacity which has allowed him to sign players who were previously unattainable for the clubs he worked for. But as is well known, doing homework at the last minute carries the risk of not doing it well enough or not delivering it on time.