Espanyol close in on Watford midfielder Jurado
Jose Manuel Jurado is set to become Espanyol's third signing of the summer after deals were confirmed for goalkeeper Roberto Jimenez and forward Jose Antonio Reyes.
The price for the Watford attacking midfielder will be around 2.5 million euros and, as has been the case with the other signings, he will arrive at the request of new manager Quique Sanchez Flores.
What's true is that the Premier League side have facilitated the deal by negotiating an affordable price for the player, who only signed a three-year deal with the club last summer. However, they're re-modelling the squad and are prepared to sell some of the perceived older players - Jurado has just turned 30.
For now, Espanyol have only been able to announced two signings as Sanchez Flores works down his list of objectives, which includes players he knows well and others who he's interested in from the shortlist put together by sporting director Angel Gomez.
The new target is to sign a central defender and a left-back, while Jese Rodriguez remains an option further forward.
Jurado came through the ranks at Real Madrid before moving to Atletico Madrid in 2006. He has also represented Mallorca and Spartak Moscow, while being capped by Spain up to U21 level.
