Sale of RCD Espanyol team for €200m is almost ready

The Catalan football club RCD Espanyol will face a new change in the upcoming weeks if a sale deal goes through. Spanish newspaper Marca reports that the investment fund Velocity Sports Partners, led by businessman Alan Pace, could acquire the team for €200 million.

This would be one of the most ambitious financial operations in Spanish football in years, as the newspaper reports, and it would mean that almost all of Espanyol's shares would change ownership.

Marca reports that Pace's team had already surpassed the due diligence phase and is prepared to take over more than 99% of the team's shares for €180 million, with some added incentives that could bring the figure to €200 million.

As the media outlet announces, the negotiation team is expected to be in Barcelona next week. They are all led by Alan Pace, who also owns the Premier League's Burnley FC.

If the deal goes through, Pace would acquire the team from its current owner, Chinese businessman Chen Yansheng, who has owned the Barcelona team for the past nine years.

RCD Espanyol is currently celebrating its 125th anniversary and secured a spot in La Liga for next season on the last game of the season.

Espanyol's new kit

The team presented its new kit for the 2025/26 season on Thursday morning. A "very special" jersey as it honors one of the "most emblematic and loved kits," the one used between 1984 and 1992.

A statement describes it as a "vibrant decade that marked a whole generation of pericos (Espanyol supporters' nickname) that left a never-forgetting moment for the team's identity."