The Real Madrid player that cost 800 million and was to train in a Volkswagen Golf

Javier Argudo

Is one of the strangest transfers in the history of Real Madrid. It came from Merida with which he achieved promotion to First division and he was one of the most important players in the team. His signing was recommended by himself Fabio Capello, but nevertheless, things did not go well and he barely remained in the club 4 months. We talk about Manolo Canabal.

The Galician player had been trained in the lower categories of the Pontevedra and started to stand out in the first team this season 94-95 with only 20 year old. A season later the Leganés He took his services to play in the Second Division but he had no minutes and was one of the discards. curiously, the Merida (who was in the First Division) he signed it already thinking about the next season since he was practically lowered. That season he disputed 1 minute in the highest category with the Roman club.

It was the campaign 96-97 when Canabal took a starting job and shone. The team achieved promotion just one year after descending and the tall player (1.90 meters high and 90 kilos weight) it was a key piece scoring 10 pure center striker's unplayed goals.

It was then when the thing surely went wild. Fabio Capello before leaving the Real Madrid advised the signing of “that boy from Merida” since he considered that it would be one of the sensations of the League in a short period of time. Lorenzo Sanz did not think about it and paid for it 800 million pesetas (his teammates Suker and Mijatovic had cost 600 Y 1.200 respectively).

Canabal's adventure at Real Madrid did not have a good ending

But the adventure of Canabal at Real Madrid it didn't last long. That campaign 97-98 the new technician, the German Jubb Heynckes, He did not have him and the footballer did not debut with the merengue shirt in an official match. If you did that on your debut in Santiago Bernabéu Trophy where he also scored the only goal of the match against Portugesa. Four months after his transfer he was transferred to Real Valladolid. yes, he left with the condition of being able to collect a premium in case the merengue club won the Champions as it were.

In Pucela it was not too successful either and it went through different First Division teams like Alavés (with which he scored a goal for Real Madrid in Medizorroza), Rayo Vallecano and Malaga. In La Rosaleda is where he had a little more continuity since he remained 4 seasons with more acceptable numbers. He finally signed for his lifetime club, the Pontevedra, where he retired with just 30 years due to a back injury.

As the footballer himself explained in an interview in The voice of Galicia once removed: “My colleagues at Real Madrid messed with me because I was going to train with my Volkswagen Golf that had bought me in Mérida and that lasted me for many years. They went with Ferraris and high-end cars”. The story of a very normal kid who can always say that he shared the locker room with big stars even if it was for a short time.