Óscar Melendo became, in November 2016, the first player trained at the RCDE Escola to reach the first team of Espanyol after going through all the categories of the white-and-blue squad. Quique Sánchez Flores gave him the opportunity to jump into the elite and Rubi knew how to get the best version, but at 24 he faces a crucial course for his future: he does not play, the market has added competition and the next summer ends contract.
Last year, the first under the orders of Vicente Moreno, Melendo was the fourteenth most used footballer in the Spanish squad, with only 12 titles in the League. He was slightly behind two midfielders incorporated in the summer – Keidi Bare and Fran Mérida – and only played three more minutes – 1,578 for 1,575 – than Nico Melamed in what was the first year of the latter as a member of full right of the first team.
This year he has not yet made his debut in the League, because he has remained on the bench in the first three official matches and has not even entered as a shocker. Melendo is clear that he wants to continue at the club of his life but, in the absence of a one-year contract, his future is not at all clear. Sources from the organization told ARA during the summer that its renewal was not a priority, as was Puado, who had many suitors, and made it clear that his case and that of other players with links until 2022 (Diego López, Oier Olazabal, Fran Mérida and Dídac Vilá) would be addressed in the coming months. A risky context, because it can lead to situations like that of Pau López, to whom the club waited to offer the renewal and, when the time came, he had already decided to leave.
The last to speak was Rufete, on September 1: “Now we will see the performance of the players and we will make strategic decisions. With Puado, the club has shown that it believes a lot in the players of the house who perform, give the level and want to be with us ”. The sporting director placed special emphasis on the word performance, which can be interpreted as a clear message that is also addressed to the players in the squad. Being in the house does not secure the place to anyone. Whoever wants to continue there will have to prove that he deserves it. The clearest case is that of Lluís López, who left Espanyol this summer with the letter of release despite having one more year left on his contract at the club. Melendo faces the situation with some anxiety, although he waits in silence for an opportunity to show that he deserves a more important role. The club, for now, will be waiting to see how the course evolves to decide what to do with a player who has shown great football and sentimental value.
Competition is growing
Melendo is the only player in the so-called Chen generation which remains in the first team of Espanyol, after the departures of Marc Navarro, Aaron Martin and Marc Roca. In fact, he is the third oldest player in the squad, surpassed only by David López and Diego López. The reinforcements that have arrived in this transfer market will add competition to a Melendo looking for his place on the team. Vicente Moreno started this season with a 4-4-2 with two positional midfielders and two wingers. Roles that, a priori, move away from the natural habitat of Melendo, the midpoint (or the advanced interior position). The current style of play, more vertical than associative, does not favor him much either.
The signings of Aleix Vidal and Loren Morón, to strengthen the right wing and the front, as well as the transfers of Yangel Herrera and Manu Morlanes, to support the midfield, suggest that the coach of Massanassa will want to keep this drawing throughout the course. The good moment of Dimata, the indisputable RdT, Embarba and Darder and the ambitious Puado and Melamed increase the competition of the front of attack for a Melendo that has happened to be a key piece next to Roca and Darder to the Spanish that he qualified for the Europa League to suffer the ostracism of a team that has just returned to Primera. The talented left-back has a year to prove he can live up to what he promised.
.
