The sticker collector who leads the new Espanyol

BarcelonaWhen he was little and scored his first goals on the Cubelles sand field, Edu Expósito dreamed of playing in the First DivisionHis teachers told him he wouldn't make it, to focus on his studies because no major youth teams had signed him and at 15 he was still at his hometown club. That's why, when he debuted with Deportivo de A Coruña at 20, he started collecting complete La Liga stickers featuring him to remind himself how hard it had been to be there. After more than 130 matches in the top flight, he still buys packs at the newsstand and already has a good handful of his stickers to show his son; the latest ones, with the Espanyol shirt, who signed him from Eibar in 2022.

The resurrection of Edu Expósito

Expósito is now 29 years old and feels better than ever. No one would have imagined this twelve months ago, when the blue and white midfielder was recovering from a torn ligament that he suffered with the team in the Second Division and that kept him off the pitch for almost a whole year. He has always been very concerned about his mental health and the help of his teammates was key in the process. coach staff, with whom he had been working for some time. The fall into hell has made him value the success achieved more, and he enjoys every training session and match like he hadn't before.

In his competitive reintroduction, he also received a lot of help from Manolo González, with whom he had not yet been able to debut, and who gave him the keys to the team as soon as he saw him ready. He was completely right because his progressive resurgence - he had minutes for the first time December 2024– coincided with that of Espanyol, who, with a couple of brilliant performances from Expósito last April, at the Rayo Vallecano field And Celta Vigo, on track for survival in the First Division. It's thanks to their permanence that the Cubelles native, a football fanatic who, like his coach, spends his weekends watching matches on television, continues to collect La Liga stickers and can sign himself to Biwenger in its various leagues with his friends.

Captain and stiletto by Manolo González

In the summer, Manolo González and his teammates gave him even more honors, choosing him as one of the team captains. De facto, already worked as such; he's been acting as a policeman in the locker room for a while, collecting fines, and outside the club when necessary, he speaks out against anyone who disrespects the club. "That's an ugly gesture he made. He should remember which was the first team that gave him food," he publicly rebuked former Parakeet Pau López last Sunday, who addressed the stands after stopping the final penalty on Javi Puado.

But neither the defeat against Betis nor the four consecutive games without a win worry the team, which has not played this well for years and knows it is on the right track. In fact, it could very well have accumulated a nine again because in the last three matches the blue and white team has shot 55 times, unequivocal proof of the offensive evolution of Manolo González's team, who with better pieces have sublimated their footballing approach. Expósito's contribution has been essential.

Espanyol is a team of authors, extremely intense and vertical, that needs very few passes to expand and get close to the goal. And since the Garrafenc native has the makings of a coach – he's already qualified for the first level and wants to prove himself on the bench when he hangs up his boots – he has football in his head and, according to his coach, "is the player with the greatest passing ability on the team, especially for putting balls into space", he interprets and develops Manolo Gon's script better than anyone.

Therefore, it's no coincidence that almost 20% of Espanyol's chances this season have come from his boots, nor that he's been making a living recovering balls in the opposition's half. Nor is it a coincidence that the last three goals for Espanyol have come from set pieces executed with surgical precision by Edu Expósito—he's the player in La Liga with the most crosses this season—the star player for an Espanyol side enjoying enviable footballing health.