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 to La Liga on Sunday night. However, he will have to start looking at alternatives on his shortlist.

According to Relevo, the first choice was Sergio Gonzalez, who managed Espanyol for 18 months between 2014 and 2015, and most recently spent two years at Cadiz, from where he was dismissed in January. However Sergio is set to undergo a hip operation at the start of July that will leave him unable to coach for a number of weeks, eating into Espanyol’s preseason and start back in La Liga, hence he has turned the job down.

Manolo Gonzalez was Espanyol’s third coach of the season after Luis Miguel Ramis and Luis Garcia, and it appears Garagarza was keen on another coach with an Espanyol past. Despite winning promotion, it has been anything but a smooth season for Espanyol, with Martin Braithwaite declaring he would be open to leaving just minutes after winning the play-off final.

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