the portrait of the new sports director perico

2023-06-27 07:00:35

The official confirmation has been made to wait longer than necessary, but it is already a reality. Fran Garagarza (Mutriku, Guipuzcoa, 1966) etc new head of the sports area of ​​Espanyol, the successor of Domigo Catoirathe last sports director who closed his stage at the club parakeet with a down to monday in which he was very guilty.

The position has been vacant for a couple of weeks until the official announcement of Barleyhe sixth sports director from the landing of Chen Yansheng at the blue and white club in January 2016. Along the way, they Ángel Gómez, Jordi Lardín, Òscar Perarnau, Rufete and Catoira, who was only a year in office. Garagarza signed for four seasons the last two subject to sports results.

The architect of a ‘miracle’

Born in Mutriku, a small basque town of 5,000 inhabitants, the name of Garagarza will always be associated with the Eibara club in which he was 14 years, 10 of them as sports director (2011-21). At this stage, the feat from a humble team of city ​​of 27,000 inhabitants, who reached the First Division in 2014 after two consecutive promotions with Bad Garitano on the bench. He miracle It was based on the excellent decisions of the new sports director of Espanyol, who knew how to adapt to budget limitations.

✍️ OFFICIAL | Fran Garagarza, new sports director.
Welcome and good luck! #RCDE

— RCD Espanyol de Barcelona (@RCDEspanyol) June 26, 2023

Those who know Garagarza best describe him as “a football man”, that has been climbing from the bottom. raised in that fishing village of the Gipuzkoan coast, he always had the ball among his passions, although he developed other functions, such as that of delivery man. While he was driving his van prepared the training sessions Mutriku and the Elgoibar, which he managed to promote to Third. That success attracted the attention of Eibar, who signed him as an assistant Manix Mandiola in 2007. That’s where his journey began.

From grassroots football to offices

After three years in the grassroots football He went to the offices and parked the van for good. exercised courier as a freelancer and the business was going well for him, but football was too much for him. He abandoned his mission as a transporter, to which he dedicated eight hours daily, and focused on the signings.

Signing cheap and selling expensive was his main hallmark: he managed to generate 45 million in sales at Eibar

Through the ranks of Eibar players like Joan Jordan, Bryan Gil, The young, cucurella, Ruben Rock, Keko, Borja Stick, Inui, Dimitrovic or Peter Leon. It was never rebassed the figure of four million in an operation and profits were always obtained: It generated 45 million euros in sales. Fichar cheap and sell expensive was his main hallmark. Jordan, for example, was bought in 2017 for one million euros when it did not count in the Espanyol and sold it to Sevilla by 12 two years later.

talks with women

“It was very workerserious, meticulousa great observer and a good guy”, sums up one of his teammates at his old club, in which the law of silence to the employees who coincided with him and continue at Eibar, which will be one of Espanyol’s rivals in the Second Division. Ridiculous things about today’s communication policies.

Among his methods, his talks with women of the players to convince them of the project, something especially necessary in a city like Eibar. “They should know that it was not a town with a coast or five malls. I explained to them the reality that they were going to find,” he told a SER podcast. Barcelona you won’t have that problem.

His journey in Eibar concluded in 2021 with the satisfaction of having fulfilled his duty despite the descent. His overall track record was excellent. “We are a benchmark for humble clubs, we are the second team of many fans to football. He was a successful model “, he summed up in his farewell.

“Passion and desire”

during his “active stop”, as he himself defined it, carried out training sessions in various clubs, such as Betis, Sevilla or Madrid. He also followed the methodology of other leagues in entities such as Leipzig and Sporting de Lisboa, without forgetting his interest in subsidiaries or the Youth League.

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“In this profession you have to have passion and desire“, he stressed in a conference of a course organized by the RFEF. Last year he was close to signing for the Levante as sports director and this course served as technical adviser at Wolverhampton to his colleague Julen Lopetegui since last November. Now sign for a Spanish in Second Division, a category that he knows perfectly.

Although the official announcement was made this Monday, Garagarza has been analyzing reports and targeting possible reinforcements. With a professional reputation hermetic and reserved, He will take care of all the details with a single objective, the same one that all parrots pursue: promotion to First Division. Work will not be missing.

Darder’s future top priority

Many issues are on the table of Fran Garagarzabut the one that most worries the parrots is the future of Sergi Darder. The captain took a few weeks to reflect and the parakeet club still trusts his continuity, something that seems complicated. There is no shortage of offers to the Balearic Islands, with the Celtic as the last interested party on a list with Valencia, Villarreal, Atlético, Sevilla, Mallorca, Almería or Olimpiacos de diego martinez.

Espanyol refers to his 10 million clause, valid until July 31, for any operation. Nor will facilities be provided for the transfer of men as Puado, Cabrera or César Montes. Garagarza will also negotiate with the Madrid the transfer of a youth squad.