Jonatan Giráldez has signed Adrián González, until now Espanyol coach, for his project at Washington Spirit. The Barcelona native announced yesterday his departure from the parakeet club in order to advance his arrival in the United States, where the league starts in March. Giráldez will not leave FC Barcelona until June 30, so it will be González who takes over the reins of the team until then.
“It is an unexpected decision, I had to make it with very little time,” the coach acknowledged yesterday in a press conference in which he explained the reasons for his hasty departure. “I have received a professional proposal from another club that at this moment in my life fits me to continue growing as a professional and a person,” he confessed.
This proposal is that of the Washington Spirit, which has paid the coach’s termination clause to be able to incorporate him into its ranks. The intention is for González to coach two more games against Espanyol before heading to the United States. There he will be able to work with the rest of the staff and the team to prepare for the debut in the NWSL, the American league, which begins on March 15. It will not be until after June 30 when Giráldez will be able to join the team.
“The timing is not what I would have liked, I feel pain and discomfort because of the how and when but I have not had the margin to decide, I have tried to extend it but there has been no option,” said the Catalan coach.
González took the reins of Espanyol at the beginning of the season and leaves the team at the top of the table, two points behind Deportivo, leader of the Primera Federación, the second category of women’s soccer. Juan Ignacio Ibarra, until now assistant coach, will be the one who assumes command of the team until the end of the season.
In terms of culé, the signing of Adrián González as Giráldez’s second could open the door for part of his current staff to remain at FC Barcelona and not accompany the Galician to the United States. Names like Rafel Navarro or Pere Romeu had been suggested as possible replacements for the Blaugrana bench.
