Espanyol sporting director Fran Garagarza had already decided not to continue with manager Manolo Gonzalez, despite guiding Los Pericos through the play-offs and back into La Liga on Sunday night. However, he will start looking for alternatives on his list.
According to Reliefthe first choice was Sergio Gonzalez, who knew Spanish for 18 months between 2014 and 2015, and the latter spent two years in Cadiz, from where he was dismissed in January. However, Sergio will undergo a hip operation at the beginning of July that will leave him unable to train for several weeks, eating in Espanyol's pre-season and resuming in La Liga, so he turned down the job .
Manolo Gonzalez was Espanyol's third coach of the season after Luis Miguel Ramis and Luis Garcia, and it seems that Garagarza was interested in another coach with an Espanyol past. Despite winning promotion, it was a smooth season for Espanyol, with Martin Braithwaite declares would be open to leave a few minutes after winning the play-off final.
