http://www.insidewelshfootball.co.uk/loved-swansea-forward-michu-retires/ Former Swansea City striker Michu who now plays at Real Oviedo has retired from professional football due to an injury.The 31 year-old spent three-seasons at Swansea City, where he caught the eyes of many with some impressive individual performances for the Swans.
La Nueva Espana have reported that Michu will now look to go into coaching or director role, as he aims to continue his involvement in football.
The report says that the club are awaiting on a medical report before a statement is released but have accepted that Michu’s playing career has come to an end. The former Celta Vigo man still has one year left on his contract but it is expected that it will not be fulfilled.
The Oviedo born-striker was signed for a relatively cheap price of £2.5m back in 2012, when he was signed by then manager Michael Laudrup as he helped the club to their first major trophy in their history as he scored once in the Swans’ 5-0 rout of Bradford City in the League Cup final.
His performances didn’t go amiss by the footballing world and after a season where he scored a total of 22 goals in 43 appearances, he was called up to the Spanish national team against Belarus.
He was also linked with a £25m move away to fellow Premier League side Arsenal but a move failed to materialise and he remained at the club for their Europa League adventure.
In the next season, he was unable to capture his form of the previous season and scored just 6 goals in 24 appearances as an injury saw his playing time reduced.
Unsurprisingly, Swansea allowed the forward to leave for Rafael Benitez’s Napoli side on a season-long loan but again injury meant that Michu was reduced to just six competitive matches that season. He was later released from his contract at Swansea City in November 2015.
Michu then went from the English and Italian top flight of football to the fourth-tier of Spanish football, joining amateur side UP Langero. His season there saw him grab 10 goals in 13 appeaances, before returning to his boyhood club of Oviedo, where he played over 27 times for The Blues.
It is a sad end to a footballing career of a player that excited many Swansea City fans during his time at the club as well as being adored in his native Spain.
