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Martin Braithwaite Considering Buying His Former Club Espanyol
Former RCD Espanyol striker, Martin Braithwaite, is considering a bid to buy shares and take a controlling stake in the club which he departed as a player only a few weeks ago, according to reports in the Spanish newspaper MARCA.
Braithwaite scored 22 goals, helping Espanyol secure promotion back to the top tier of Spanish on their first attempt.
However, he chose to leave the club and join Brazilian Grêmio ahead of the 2024/25 season.
“This is not goodbye for me. Together we have gone for promotion, we have achieved it and now we are going for the club,” he said in a farewell message to fans, which is now clearer with these reports indicating exactly what he meant with his new objective.
Braithwaite publicly had a fallout with the club’s owners after they denied his request to move to a first-division team last summer.
When discussing a potential contract extension this summer, he stated, “A year ago the club made me a renewal offer, but it was disrespectful. Let’s see if they want me to stay here because the offer they made a year ago showed that they don’t believe in me”.
Espanyol is owned by Chinese businessman, Chen Yansheng, and managed by Rastar Group, but fans have been very vocal in their criticism of the management of the club, which has been relegated twice in the last three years.
Martin Braithwaite’s business activities
Braithwaite has put a significant portion of his football earnings into investments which has allowed him to build a property empire. Together with his uncle, Philip Michael, they have shares in NYCE Companies valued at $ 287 million.
What began as an $850,000 investment in 2017 has rapidly expanded, with their portfolio now consisting of 1,500 properties and an additional 500 in development
The project aims to provide affordable housing to the black community in Philadelphia and New Jersey. “I always had this American side, and I think maybe that’s why my mindset is maybe more American, dreaming big, doing amazing things, writing goals down,” he told The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“In Denmark, we have an amazing system protecting the people. Everyone is good. No one needs anything. In America, it’s not the same thing.”
His wife, Anne-Laure, also has her own business, Trente, a women’s clothing line, and together they own a Barcelona restaurant, Iguana Gavá Mar, and a home-meal delivery service, Braithwaite’s Kitchen.
Braithwaite’s next step in his football career
It wouldn’t be the first time Braithwaite has surprised RCD Espanyol this summer, especially considering how he departed from the club.
The striker openly expressed his dissatisfaction with the he was treated regarding a potential contract extension, yet he still reported for training as scheduled on the first day of preseason.
The club even joyfully took to social media to post pictures of him undergoing medical checks.
However, just hours later, he left them embarrassed by activating his release clause with La Liga, effectively terminating his contract on the spot
The Dane then held talks with the Greek side, Olympiakos, coached by Spaniard José Luis Mendilibar, but eventually opted to join Brazilian side Grêmio.
