Player profile: RAÚL DE TOMÁS
Club: RCD Espanyol
Position: Striker Age: 27 (born October 17, 1994)
Country: Spain (4 caps since 2021)
LaLiga Player RAÚL DE TOMÁS
The Spaniard is a polarizing figure on and off the pitch but can be called upon when the need to score goals arises. Espanyol’s Raul de Tomas is known to wear the RDT on his kit, which had become his trademark even when he went overseas.
Madridista days
A proud son of Dominican parents in the Spanish capital, Raul De Tomas joined Real’s fabled La Fabrica, which has become one of football’s greatest youth academies.
He progressed quickly into the set-up, moving his way up from the now-defunct C team up to the first squad, with his best years there being at the now-named Castilla side where he scored 14 goals in 62 games.
But his five-year stay with Los Blancos has been blighted by his failure to register a league appearance for them, let alone wear the fabled white shirt at the Bernabeu, as his lone match came in
Loan Spells, the moving to Portugal
Due to a crowded squad in Real Madrid, RDT was sent on loan three different times, with only one season being in the topflight.
He first came to Cordoba in 2015 on a season long-loan. RDT scored six times as they missed out on promotion, falling to Girona in the playoff semifinal.
The following campaign saw him move up north to another Segunda side in Valladolid, where they missed out on the playoffs despite his 14 goals. He eventually went back to the capital to play for Rayo Vallecano in 2017 and finally returned to La Liga after winning the Segunda title by a point, as RDT became that season’s second top scorer with 24.
In his top-flight return, he scored 14 goals for Los Franjirrojos but Rayo went back to the second tier after finishing dead last in the Primera.
At home in Espanyol
After a disappointing single season with Benfica shortly after leaving Madrid, De Tomas returned to Spain as he transferred to Espanyol for a €20 million fee in the midway point of the 2019-20 season.
He only had a minimal impact at Cornellà-El Prat, scoring just four La Liga goals, as they were relegated to the Segunda dead last in the table.
However, the 2020-21 season saw a resurgence, just like in his stay at the Vallecas, in which he scored a league-leading 23 goals as Espanyol were promoted back to the top-flight, with him collecting his second Segunda title.
Proving that it was no fluke, RDT scored 17 to lead the club as they finished 14th in their La Liga return, including the first in their stunning 2-1 win over his former club who will eventually win the title.
