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Arriving in style
Raúl de Tomás inspires hope in his presentation and states “I’m coming here to make history”
Raúl de Tomás’ first hours as an Espanyol player have generated a lot of excitement amongst fans, owing to his obvious quality and the commitment he has shown since his arrival. The striker, who was officially presented as an Espanyol player the afternoon, made known his happiness “to be here” and pointed out that “I needed someone to show faith in me given the situation I was in and I hope to be able to repay that faith by being successful here in the future”.
He revealed that Espanyol’s call a few weeks ago, and the words he exchanged with Rufete were what finally convinced him to take this step. “I’m aware of the responsibility that I’m going to have in this team. I believe in my own ability. I’ve struggled quite a bit these last few months in Portugal, but since I spoke with Espanyol I’ve regained my hunger. Now I’m taking up an important role in this time and I’m coming here to make history. This is something that both motivates me and brings great responsibility. I’m going to give everything to repay the confidence this club has shown in me”.
He said that this morning, after completing his medical, he had met up with his new teammates and “I saw that this is a great group of people. The only thing I need is for them to help me in this adjustment period, and for us to all work together towards the same objective”.
He admits that his time in Portugal was frustrating, but added that “everything I’d lost over the last six months I’ve just recovered in one day”
He knows that the comparisons with Tamudo are inevitable and says that “he has been the perfect role model for any player. Let’s hope I can reach his standards”.
During Raúl de Tomás’ presentation, Carlos García Pont, the “blanquiazul” vice-president, paid tribute to “The work Rufete and others at the club have done to make this signing possible”, and to the player “for making things so easy and showing such desire to come to Espanyol”.
Rufete revealed that discussions to sign the Madrilenian striker began “on the 11th of December and from the get go he made it clear that he wanted to come. If someone like Raúl de Tomás is here it’s because the club is on the up. Now we have 5 months ahead of us to achieve our objective. Its a big challenge and our fans are demanding that we get results every week”.