Espanyol will be powerless to prevent La Liga hotshot Raul de Tomas from leaving if someone triggers the release clause in the Arsenal target’s contract, CEO Mao Ye tells Marca.
A man better known as ‘RDT’ over in Spain might not be the most famous or the most glamorous striker linked with Mikel Arteta’s Premier League giants since the turn of the year but you only have to look at what Luis Enrique said about the Spanish international to realise why Arsenal like him so much.
“We are a team that depends on 11 players to press (from the front),” the La Roja boss says, via La Liga Lowdown.
“He gives us consistency, he has the ability to shoot, and helps improve us defensively. He has been great.”
Much of the reason why Arteta kept the faith with Alexandre Lacazette, despite the Frenchman’s lack of goals, revolved around his relentless work-ethic and his willingness to put opposition players under pressure.
The same attributes were clear to see as Eddie Nketiah forced Illan Meslier into a howler in Sunday’s 2-1 victory over Leeds United.
And, in De Tomas, Arsenal appear to have found a centre-forward who combines an eye for goal with the high pressing style Arteta likes. Only two players in the whole of La Liga (Iago Aspas and Karim Benzema) have scored more than his 15 goals in 2021/22.
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“Will RDT stay? No one can guarantee this,” admits Mao Ye when asked about the 27-year-old’s future at the RCDE Stadium.
“We all know that there is a release clause, if someone exercises it, we can do little (to stop him leaving).”
It’s the size of that release clause that could prove problematic as far as Arsenal are concerned, however.
“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 75 million euros (£60m).”
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Arsenal, you may remember, were willing to pay a similarly eye-watering sum for Dusan Vlahovic but this is a different case entirely. At just 22, Vlahovic is five years younger than De Tomas after all.
And while it seems only a matter of time before Juventus’ new number seven is establishing himself as one of the planet’s best centre-forwards – if he isn’t already – there are certainly doubts about whether the late-blooming ‘RDT’ can take his game to another level at a more expectant, demanding club like Arsenal.
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