The Espanyol midfielder is having a great season and is establishing himself as one of the best midfielders in the Spanish league.
As Luis Enrique’s La Roja prepare to play two friendly matches against Albania and Iceland, Spain expected to see many new faces in the national team list. Among them, Sergi Darder. Due to the strong competition in the middle, the former OL player was ultimately not selected, but the Asturian tactician is well aware that Darder can bring things to his team. “Luis Enrique told me about Darder and his quality, he follows him closely”confided the coach of Espanyol Vicente Moreno this weekend.
It must be said that this season, and especially since the start of the 2022 calendar year, the 28-year-old midfielder is more than efficient. A true master at playing Espanyol, he has found this regularity and this maturity which he has been lacking up to now. Excellent technically, Darder was also put in the best conditions by his coach: total freedom for him in the midfield, well supported by hard-working players like Yangel Herrera or Keidi Bare. A conductor who has also refined his game so as to be more decisive.
His contract expires in 2023
Three goals and seven assists on the counter in La Liga for the moment, but above all a disconcerting ease in making differences in the middle, via well-felt passes which break lines and put his partners in a good position in the last meters. His long ball for Raul de Tomas – who is well present in the Roja list – this weekend against Mallorca is the best example. He had never managed to distill so many assists in his career. This season, he has already achieved more than in his first three seasons in La Liga with the Catalan team (from 2017 to 2020), which played in the second division last year!
- The ranking of the best passers in La Liga.
Of course, a question arises. Shouldn’t a player of such a level play for a superior club? Twelfth in the standings, Espanyol has fairly limited prospects for development, and should not play in European competition next year. His contract expires in 2023, and talks for an extension with the Ciudad Condal club have begun. But we know that other clubs are likely to come knocking on the door and recently, some Spanish media were talking about Atlético de Madrid. Espanyol supporters therefore have a few more weeks to enjoy him, before possibly having to say goodbye to him….
