Former Birmingham City and Aston Villa man announces retirement aged 31
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Former Birmingham City and Aston Villa player Jota has announced that he has retired at the age of 31. The Spaniard has called time on his playing career.
The winger has revealed that he didn’t want to carry on playing just for the money and has made the decision to hang up his boots at a still relatively young age. He has now stepped away from the game having last played for Alaves.
He has said, as per Relevo:
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“In the middle of my last season in 2021 I lost the ambition I had in previous years. And I didn’t want that to happen. I had been a pro for 12 or 13 years, I could have gone on for another five or six making a lot of money, but I would have been kidding myself.”
Midlands spell
Birmingham swooped to sign the attacker in 2017 and he went on to make 75 appearances in all competitions during his two-year spell, chipping in with eight goals. Prior to his switch to at St Andrew’s, he had been a hit at Brentford and had fired 23 goals in 75 games for the Bees.
He the Blues in 2019 and had a spell with rivals Aston Villa under their former boss Dean Smith. The ex-Celta Vigo man was part of their side who won promotion to the Premier League a couple of years ago but his game time at Villa Park soon dried up.
Alaves then came calling and he returned to La Liga for one last hurrah. However, he parted company with them in the summer fo
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