What does Éder Sarabia's new Espanyol need to sign?

By the end of last season, Espanyol were already toying with the idea of sacking Manolo González. Despite a successful spell at the club, the coach from Badalona put together the worst second half of the season in LaLiga: a run that left the club flirting with relegation after it had spent several matchdays in the European places in the first half of the campaign. The dismissal did not come when the season ended; it has finally exploded with the Copa del Rey exit against Sestao River, of the Segunda Federación.

The reins now go to Éder Sarabia, who already has experience at the top level of Spanish football. An appointment that has surprised some of us, because his style is completely different from his predecessor's.

The numbers explain the surprise. Manolo González's Espanyol lived without the ball: last season they had 42.3% possession, 19th in LaLiga, and in the second half of the season they took just 12 points. Sarabia's Elche were the opposite: in that same season they had 57.7% possession, third in the league, with 498 passes per game to Espanyol's 348.

From Manolo's 42% possession to the 58% of Sarabia's Elche

Sarabia asks for building from the back, positional play and pressing after losing the ball; at Elche, in the top flight, he almost always played with three centre-backs and two wing-backs (29 of 38 games last season). The squad was built for a different idea: in arrivals, possession and creation, Espanyol sit in the 20th, 21st and 26th percentiles of LaLiga. And with Monchi short of money (six of the seven summer signings arrived on loan), the market is close to home: the Segunda División, loans and players who are not indispensable at their clubs.

The first is Álex Moreno, from Sant Sadurní d'Anoia: a left-back who attacks with the ball (three dribbles attempted and 1.2 key passes per game) and does not hide in the build-up (82% pass accuracy). His Big Data Rating is 72, with percentiles of 85 in creation and 75 in possession among full-backs across the 37 leagues we analyse: the wing-back a back three needs. He is undisputed at Girona and comes from the controlled football of Míchel and Pellegrini's Betis. And the gap is real: Hartman (rating 49) has not filled the one left by Carlos Romero, who was probably Espanyol's best player last season. Girona and Espanyol are rivals, but they have done deals before (Pol Lozano, David López, Almansa), and with a contract until 2027 and a price of €2.5m by our estimate, he is worth the gamble.

Álex Moreno, the wing-back a back three needs

In midfield, Gumbau, from Campllong and raised between Girona and Barcelona: a final-pass interior (two key passes per game and three assists for Granada), with percentiles of 91 in creation and 70 in arrivals among midfielders across the 37 leagues. He is not a possession midfielder but the one who turns possession into chances, which is what a team about to have much more of the ball needs. His contract ends in 2027 and his price is €5.9m.

For the flank, a loan, Monchi's formula: Alfon González, a left winger who dribbles and gets into the box. In his last full season, at Celta, he attempted three and a half dribbles per game and added five goals and two assists; at Sevilla there is no room for him (60 minutes this season). He would give competition to Bryan Zaragoza, a similar profile, if Sarabia plays with wingers.

And to finish, a left-footed centre-back who can play out from the back: Agustín Sienra, of Castellón, the Segunda División leaders and the team that defends with the ball. He makes 66 passes per game with 89% accuracy and sits in the 92nd percentile for pressing among centre-backs across the 37 leagues (rating 72). In a back three he would be the left centre-back who starts the play. He costs €3.1m by our estimate, and Monchi already knows the way: this summer he signed Calatrava from Castellón.

Sienra: 66 passes per game at 89% accuracy

Many names may come up in the winter window, but money in LaLiga is limited, and at Espanyol even more so. Everything suggests Sarabia will have to place each piece on the square of the board where it adds the most between now and the end of the season. We do not know how far he is willing to tone down his football, or whether he will die with his usual idea. What we do know is that he has proved to be a great coach, that he adapts to change (in the Segunda he defended with four, in the top flight he switched to three centre-backs) and that he proposes brave football. The rest is Monchi's job, and for those in the know he needs no introduction.

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Data: API-Football, seasons 2022-23 to 2026-27 up to 05/11/2026. Possession, passes and accuracy: average of each team's match statistics in LaLiga 25/26; Elche only with Sarabia on the bench (all 38 games that season; the coach of each game is the one in the line-up), not the current Elche. Matchday standings for LaLiga 25/26 calculated from API-Football results. Big Data Rating and percentiles: Al Primer Toque, against full-backs across the 37 leagues we analyse, with the league coefficient; Gumbau against midfielders and Sienra against centre-backs. Samples (26/27 plus the 25/26 season): Álex Moreno 1,068 minutes, Gumbau 1,044, Agustín Sienra 970; Alfon, 60 minutes in 26/27, no rating (short sample). Espanyol's percentiles against LaLiga teams. Market price: our own estimate. Per game: API-Football player statistics per 90 minutes, 26/27 (Alfon: LaLiga 24/25). Formations: API-Football line-ups. Birthplaces of Álex Moreno and Gumbau: Wikidata. Transfers between Girona and Espanyol and Espanyol's summer 2026 signings: API-Football. Sources: playing style, El Gol Digital (02/11/2026); Sestao River 4-3 Espanyol after extra time (27/10/2026) and Sestao in the Segunda Federación, API-Football and Flashscore; Alfon's contract and loan, Comuniate (01/07/2025) and Comuniate (31/05/2026); Sienra left-footed, good on the ball and able to play left-back, El Gol Digital (27/06/2026), and birth, LaLiga; Monchi, Espanyol's sporting director general since 11/05/2026, Deia and Comuniate.