LaLiga Santander: RCD Espanyol opens its fifth academy outside of Spain, in Baghdad (Iraq)

Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (LaLiga Santander) have "reached an agreement to open an RCDE Academy in Iraq." The club becomes "the first foreign club to create a training center in the South-West Asian country," announced the Catalan club on 15/03/2018.

"This is a pioneering initiative for youth academies in a territory like Iraq with the most successful methodology and operation, with Espanyol, a benchmark in training, as the first club of an extensive and ambitious project throughout the country. Iraq is a country with enormous social, sporting and economic possibilities. A land with an extraordinary cultural potential that, in collaboration with Espanyol, aims to develop football talent," added the club.

The RCDE academy that the club will open in Baghdad is the club's fifth in the world, with academies already existing in Ajman (United Arab Emirates), Algiers (Algeria), Saitama (Japan), and New Jersey (United States). RCD Espanyol also inaugurated an academy reserved for young Chinese and Asian players in Sabadell (near Barcelona, ESP), in partnership with the…