Reported Arsenal and Everton target Marc Roca has no plans to stay at Espanyol after the Catalan giants were relegated from La Liga, according to Mundo Deportivo.
While one Espanyol ace will not be flying The Parakeets’ net after dropping into the Segunda, it seems that Roca has rather different ideas.
Wu Lei has made it clear on multiple occasions that he plans to stay at the Cornella El Prat and fire a crisis-hit club back into the top-flight, despite being linked with the likes of Wolves and Watford.
But Spain U21 international Roca is far too good to waste a year in the second tier.
Especially as he is perhaps the one Espanyol player who emerged from a disastrous 2019/20 campaign, which included five wins and four managers, with his reputation intact.
Tuttomercatoweb reports that Roca will now be available for half of his £35 million release clause, with his price-tag dropping to around £18 million.
Arsenal have put an offer on the table, according to Sport in June, while La Razon in March suggested that the deep-lying playmaker could fill an Idrissa Gana Gueye shaped hole at the heart of Everton’s midfield.
A cultured, classy 23-year-old, Roca shone alongside potential Arsenal team-mate Dani Ceballos as Spain beat Germany in the final of the U21 European championships last summer.
And, given that he models his game on the likes of Xabi Alonso and Sergio Busquets, those long-suffering Gunners fans will be praying that Roca can protect a defence with about as much strength as wet tissue paper.
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