Diego Martínez aiming to perform more miracles with Espanyol

In the summer of 2021, Diego Martínez opted to leave Granada after experiencing three incredibly successful seasons in Andalusia. 

Despite Granada’s best efforts to keep their prized asset, Martínez decided to depart, seemingly keen to take advantage of the fact that his stock had risen exponentially since arriving at the Nuevo Estadio de Los Cármenes in 2018.

However, rather than joining a top seven La Liga club, the former Osasuna boss had to endure what was effectively a one-year enforced sabbatical from the game.

Although he was linked with the Everton job following the departure of Rafael Benítez in January, the 2021-22 season passed by with Martínez looking on from a distance.

A year in the wilderness is an eternity in football, so with the risk of becoming football’s forgotten man, the 41-year-old would have been keen to find a home for his managerial expertise this summer.

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The likes of Athletic Club and Sevilla were credited with showing an interest in the services of the former Granada manager, but no deal had been confirmed between any club until Tuesday when Espanyol unveiled Martinez as their new head coach.

For Martínez, Espanyol offers the chance to demonstrate why he is one of the best managers in Spain, while for the Periquitos, they may have just completed their most important signing of the summer.

Finishing in 14th place in their first season back in the top flight was a satisfactory outcome for Espanyol, but Martínez has already shown that a newly promoted side can apsire for so much more.

After falling one point short of the Segunda División playoffs with Osasuna in the 2017-18 campaign, Martínez left Pamplona, with his managerial journey taking him south to Andalusia.

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The Spaniard managed to achieve what he was unable to do at Osasuna, winning promotion with Granada at the first time of asking after finishing in second place behind the side he left just a year earlier.

While the majority of Granada fans would have been content with avoiding the bottom three in their first season back in La Liga, Martínez was keen to achieve something remarkable.

The 2019-20 campaign transpired to be a memorable one for the Nazaríes, with 56 points from 38 league games helping Granada secure a top-seven finish, ensuring they would participate in European competition for the first time in their history. 

Despite ranking in 19th place in terms of possession, the Andalusian outfit were only outscored by five other teams, while they ended the campaign with the sixth-best home record in the topflight.

Alongside the seventh place finish, Granada reached the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey in the 2019-20 season before losing out to Athletic Club in the last four on away goals.

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Martínez’s first season as a La Liga manager was an unmitigated success, but rather than experiencing a dramatic drop off in the 2020-21 season, Granada achieved another top-half finish, ending the campaign in ninth position. 

Meanwhile, their first European escapade will go down in Granada history as Martínez guided his side through three Europa League qualifiers and the group phase before Napoli and Molde were ousted in the knockout stages to set up a mouthwatering quarter-final tie with Manchester United.

The last eight battle with the Red Devils may have ended in a 4-0 aggregate defeat, but no one could deny that Granada had surpassed all expectations in their first European adventure.

After enjoying a third consecutive successful campaign as Granada boss, perhaps the most surprising element of Martínez’s journey was that when he left last summer, a La Liga club in the top seven did not take a chance on the 41-year-old.

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If any more evidence was needed about the significant impact Martínez had at Granada then you need to look no further than their most recent campaign. For the first time since 2018, the Nazaríes began a season without Martínez at the helm, and his absence proved to be crucial, with the Andalusians relegated on the final day of the La Liga season.

While his former club plan for a promotion bid, the man from Vigo will prepare to perform another batch of miracles in Catalonia. A top-half finish will be the aim for Espanyol next season, but with Martínez at the helm, a push for the European places will not be out of the question as he looks to match and potentially surpass his incredible achievements with Granada. With that in mind, Espanyol will certainly be a team to keep a close eye on in the 2022-23 season.