Joaquin is coming to the end of his career.
The 37 year old is still putting in good performances but time catches up with everyone eventually. Back at his beloved Betis since 2015, in hindsight he may have wished he never left, and may not have done had it not been for off the pitch politics.
Before he left Betis for Valencia, a protracted move which eventually happened in 2006, Joaquin had been close to Real Madrid and Chelsea moves.
It was the Premier League club who came closest to a deal, and the player’s father has explained what happened.
It’s not clear whether the two payments of €3m were in addition to the €36m, thereby making it €42m in total for Chelsea.
Joaquin was in Madrid and his father told him to take the first plane to Seville to sign the contracts. The player wasn’t up for it and instead told his father that he’d take the train and wouldn’t be signing anything because he was happy at Betis.
