Espanyol have hit back in the latest Raul Tamudo saga by saying the striker has refused to sign a new deal with the club.

Tamudo had responded to press reports saying he was looking for a move out of Espanyol by saying he would be happy to sign a new deal and never threaten to leave.

However according to skysports.com, Espanyol president Daniel Sanchez Llibre has physical proof that Tamudo had shown his desire to leave the club last season.

Sanchez Llibre showed the media a letter from the striker's agent, Tomas Duran, stating that he was keen to go, and branded the idea of a new deal as 'ridiculous'.

In the letter Tamudo's representative requested that the club change his client's buy-out clause from €30million to €2million for the winter transfer window last season.

"They [Duran and Tamudo] sent me a document demanding that we sign it," Sanchez Llibre stated.

"We declined because we cannot reduce the buy-out clause on the wish of the agent and also because we did not want to lose a centre-forward."
Ridiculous

While the club refused at first, they did eventually agree and told Tamudo he could go over the summer if an offer was made in time for them to find a replacement.

No clubs made concrete offers and so Tamudo was forced to stay and has now stated that he wants to remain at the club for the rest of his career, but Sanchez Llibre has other ideas.

"I do not understand why we would offer a new contract to him if we know he wants to go because it is written in this letter. It is ridiculous," the president added.

Tamudo is expected to leave the club in January or next summer at the latest when his contract expires, with Wigan understood to be interested in securing his services.