You’d never have guessed that Raul de Tomas was going through something of a lean spell. Not as Espanyol’s Spain international latched onto a perfectly-weighted Sergi Darder through ball and fired the most nerveless of first-time finishes into the far corner during Sunday’s 1-0 La Liga victory over Real Mallorca.
“Sometimes you go through bad moments,” De Tomas told Mundo Deportivo after a win that lifts an Espanyol side only promoted last season to within touching distance of the top half.
“We all have our problems and things outside of football and that has repercussions on the pitch. But now I am very happy.”
If this is De Tomas going through a difficult patch – failing to score in four successive matches before this weekend – then imagine what he’s like when there’s confidence coursing through his veins.
Either way, that barren run appears to be a thing of the past now. The man known as ‘RDT’ took his tally to 14 for the season against Mallorca.
Is Raul de Tomas Arsenal’s next number 9?
De Tomas is now La Liga’s most prolific Spanish footballer. Only Karim Benzema has scored more.
And, with Arsenal scouring the market for a new number nine, the latest in a long-line of matchwinning displays from De Tomas means the Madrid-born 27-year-old won’t be absent from the gossip columns for long.
“Arsenal called for Raul de Tomas,” Espanyol director Jose Maria Duran admitted in January. “But we didn’t even want to talk. We won’t let him go now, no way. His release clause is 75m euros (£60m).”
Of course, with Espanyol in the midst of a relegation battle at the time, the Catalans were never going to open up the door and let their talismanic centre-forward go without a fight.
Come the summer, however, RCDE may have no choice but to listen to offers. Offers much lower than his £60 million price-tag.
After all, Espanyol are hardly one of La Liga’s powerhouse clubs. Teams of this size and these means will always ripe for raiding. Even for players as important as ‘RDT’.
Things didn’t really go to plan the last time Arsenal signed a striker from a mid-table La Liga club. Lucas Perez, anyone?
But, having scored more goals than Alexandre Lacazette, Nicolas Pepe and Gabriel Martinelli combined in 2021/22 – and more than Arsenal-linked Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Alvaro Morata and Andrea Belotti – De Tomas’ statistics speak for themselves.
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