Busy Deadline Day for Espanyol as Six Deals are Completed
Sometimes clubs have a quiet transfer deadline day, and Espanyol was expecting to be one of those teams with most of their business already done earlier in the window. Well all that changed when some bigger clubs came in at the last minute looking to poach some of Espanyol's top talents. Manchester United kicked things off by triggering Sergi Darder's €40M release clause, and Arsenal followed shortly after offering €35M for Calero as well as a massive spike in wages for the player. With the club's best midfielder and best center-back gone, it became imperative to bring in reinforcements before the window closed.
In midfield, Espanyol targeted Matias Rojas (pictured above), a Paraguayan midfielder from Racing Club with excellent pace, technique, skill and placement on set pieces. The club broke its transfer record for his signature, paying €31.6M for the new #8. At center-back, Espanyol made another signing from South America, bringing in Argentinean, Alan Franco, from Independiente for a fee of €6.4M and including Embarba in the deal as well. With Embarba gone, Espanyol needed additional cover for Adama Traore on the right wing, so Emiliano Buendia was purchased from EFL Championship side, Norwich City, for €23.7M.
Last, but certainly not least, though Espanyol had already made several purchases of forwards this summer, they hadn't really secured that marquee #9. Enter Kasper Dolberg, a Danish striker who was highly touted during his time at Ajax, but lost a bit of recognition on the global stage and had to move to OGC Nice to build his reputation back up. Well now, the 22 year old Dane will have the bright lights of Spain as well as the Champions League as his new stage as Espanyol secured his signature for €21.1M and the inclusion of Javier Puado as part of the deal.
