Espanyol's new owner

You probably did not hear of Chen Yansheng but from Thursday he became owner of RCD Espanyol. Chen was presented as the Spanish club owner after finalizing his purchase of a controlling 54% stake. This businessman is also the owner of Rastar Group. The model car company, based in China's southern Guangdong province, announced late last year it would pay case for the stake and that it planned to increase the investment by up to 45 million euros. This overshadowed club by glamorous city neighbors of Barcelona, have typically finished in mid table over the past decade. This can easily change with Chen as he wants to redeem Espanyol by playing in Europe next season and also are aiming Champions League within three years. Their best finish in recent times was fifth in 2004/05, and they qualified for Europe again the following season by winning Copa del Rey. Twice reached the final of the UEFA Cup loosing on both occasions in penalty shootout. Espanyol, however, has never participated in the Champions League. According to Chen 'its good that the city of Barcelona have two strong clubs and he hopes to have the club debt-free'. The Chinese businessman also confirmed that he will attend Saturday's home game against Villarreal in Estadi Cornella-El Prat.
On the other hand, Chen is not the only Asian shareholder representative in Spain. Earlier this year, China's Wanda Group bought a 20% stake in 2014 La Liga champions Atletico Madrid while Singaporean businessman Peter Lim is also the major shareholder in Valencia.