Taboo is the wrong word, but the curiosity surrounding British players moving abroad certainly qualifies as a stigma. For a long time, and no doubt still in some clubs, signing a player from that idiosyncratic island was considered more of risk than bringing in a Brazilian from across the Atlantic Ocean. Yet that belief seems to be on the wain – perhaps it's harder sporting directors in suits and glass-faced offices struggle to justify multi-million investments with traditional dogma.
If David Beckham was a global superstar, Gareth Bale was just a brilliant footballer. One of them collected three Champions League awards and various Puskas contenders, but was villified, first and foremost because of his lack of cultural integration. The last success, David Beckham, left Real Madrid with a single major trophy in four years. Yet the arrival of Kieran Trippier , Jude Bellingham , followed last summer by Marcus Rashford and Trent Alexander-Arnold shows that at least within clubs, if perhaps not the media, that prejudice is fading.
Maybe Tyrhys Dolan is a more accurate representation of the transition – away from the particulars of a Real Madrid or a Barcelona – although not too far. The 24-year-old grew up in Manchester, and after successful spell at Blackburn Rovers in the Championship, raised eyebrows, and certainly curiosity in Spain, signing a three-year deal with Espanyol . There are easier clubs to arrive at. Something of a sleeping giant, with expectations well beyond their recent performance, who survived in LaLiga with a gargantuan escape act last season, Dolan was thrust into the coliseum of La Liga's relegation battle.
Image via RCDE. Tyrhys Dolan signs for Espanyol .
"Coming in off the back of last season, it was a proper survivor's mentality," Dolan tells Football España. "They were just really willing to fight coming in. One thing I noticed was that the supporters were really behind us. Obviously Barcelona is the biggest thing in the city, so everyone that's rocking with Espanyol is so loyal to us. So the supporters they had our backs, and the start to life was amazing, and probably unexpected off the back of the last year."
Dolan played a part in Espanyol's 2-1 win in over Atletico Madrid in the opening game of the season, the home fans definitely rocking. Los Pericos didn't look back, and sat 5th at Christmas, equalling their best first half of a season ever.
"It was really positive, off the back of a few wins, it was really about understanding a winner's mindset in the team, and the manager [Manolo Gonzalez] implemented that into us . He's mental about football, I was excited to work with him, and I heard of him before, but actually experiencing him, and working under him, is a completely different thing. Just enjoying it and taking it in my stride."
Establishing himself as a regular, Dolan seemed to take to life at Espanyol seamlessly. As Barcelona's wettest and coldest winter in decades descended, Dolan perhaps at home in that regard, the fans at the RCDE Stadium were warmed by a hard-running winger with a bag of tricks in his back pocket. His five assists, second only to set-piece taker Edu Exposito (6), have made him a key source of goals for his side. Previously, Dolan has described football as a highlight reel though, akin to the deceptive life portrayed on Instagram. His first season in Spain perhaps obscures the work that has gone into it.
"There was a point when I first joined, when I thought – am I really ready for this? But then it was just me adapting and getting used to it. To a new way of football. I'm constantly trying to learn. I'm really enjoying playing with Carlos [Romero], he's a top player. But I can sit here and name every other player. When you're playing with better players, it makes you better, you have to be sharper mentally."
"[It's] Little things like defensive body positioning, depending on where the ball is on the pitch. When I'm attacking, end product. How to get more out of it. There's just so many things, because when you step up a level, you need to raise your game in all areas, and the staff have been great working with me, and a lot of off-pitch conversations to do that. There's a lot of aspects to the game, and I feel like I'm understanding more. My end product, I'm getting more crosses off than I was last season."
If anything though, Dolan suggests the most difficult thing is finding a routine off the pitch. Beyond any inherent cultural mindset or ability to adapt, the biggest change is the upheaval from a foundation built to absorb football's weekly shockwaves.
"Transitioning into a completely different culture, isolating myself a bit, I've not got my safety net around me. That was the big difference to me, just adapting my life for my career," Dolan says without blinking. Later Dolan talks of adding 'tools to his trade', on and off the pitch. Do the highs and lows of the game smooth out with age and experience?
"[I'm] Just trying to ride the wave, I've had my ups and downs . A down has never kept me down too long. So if I'm in it, I know what I have to do to get out of it. And if I'm up, not to get too wrapped up in it. Football is so temporary, nothing is permanent. So I just try to take the rough with the smooth. I knew it wasn't going to be easy coming out here."
"People say like 'wow, you're playing in one of the top leagues in the world', and it is, it's great and I love it. But there is so much sacrifice that comes with that. I'm probably at football three or four hours a day, and the rest of the time it's just me. It's a lot of time to be on your own. It's not always easy, but I'm enjoying the journey, and it's made me a much stronger person mentally, and embracing it all."
Whatever the sacrifices, Dolan vouches that the juice is worth the squeeze. Life in La Liga comes with his stamp of approval for anyone in English football.
"I'd definitely recommend it. If you've got the opportunity to play in the top leagues abroad, then go for it. It's obviously not easy, not everyone has hit the ground running coming from England to La Liga, but it's amazing what it can do for your career. It's also adding more tools to your trade, I've learnt so much, in eight or nine months. I've learnt a lot football-wise and about myself."
