Four years after his transfer fee became the go-to fact of every pub bore, Michu has retired from football at the age of just 31.
The Spaniard most recently played for Spanish Segunda Division side Real Oviedo. Spanish site La Nueva Espana reports that Michu still had a year remaining on his contract at Oviedo. However, due to injury, it is expected to be cancelled.
Michu came to prominence in the Premier League when he was signed for Swansea by Michael Laudrup for just £2 million. After enjoying a stellar first season, where he scored 22 goals and helped Swansea to win the League Cup, he failed to replicate that form in the years which followed.
A persistent ankle injury, sustained during his second year at Swansea, was to blame for the dip.
After a year on loan at Napoli, he left the Liberty Stadium permanently in 2015, joining Spanish amateur side UP Langreo, who were managed by his brother.
We are sad to hear @Michuoviedo has retired from football...
? Thanks for some fantastic #Swans memories.https://t.co/ZYyadcmKD4— Swansea City AFC (@SwansOfficial) July 16, 2017
He would rejoin the professional ranks in 2016 by signing for Real Oviedo, his first club and also the city of his birth. Michu had a near fairy tale second debut for the club, scoring twice to take Oviedo from 3-1 down to 3-3 in a Copa del Rey tie against Murcia. They would go onto lose in extra time.
After leaving Swansea, Michu said that despite 'loads of treatment and countless operations' he had never been able to fully recover from the ankle injury which 'started overnight'.
It appears the ankle injury which forced the end of his Premier League career and his descent down the leagues has been persistent enough to also force the end of his football career.
