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0:46

Hi everybody, producer Al here. It's time

0:48

for another TSFP Presents re-release here on

0:50

the Monday podcast feed. And it's another

0:52

episode of TSFP Presents, a history of

0:54

transfers. This series was first released for

0:56

patrons back in 2019. And

0:58

this episode discusses the most influential transfers

1:00

in La Liga history. For more of

1:02

this kind of thing, you can join

1:05

us over at patreon.com/TSFP. If you're looking

1:07

for a last-minute Christmas present for the

1:09

Spanish football fan in your life, you

1:11

can sign them up to an annual

1:13

membership and you get 10% off

1:15

as well. This will be the last episode

1:18

up on the Monday feed for 2023 as

1:20

La Liga takes a break over Christmas. Thank

1:22

you as always for listening and thanks to

1:24

your support over the last year. And Merry

1:26

Christmas to those of you who celebrate. And

1:28

we'll be back in the new year. Hello

1:38

patrons and welcome to another edition

1:41

of TSFP Presents, a history of

1:43

transfers. Today, we're talking about the

1:45

transfers that have had the biggest

1:47

impact on La Liga. We've got

1:50

some very interesting transfers and stories

1:52

to go through. There are a

1:54

few notable absentees from today's podcast

1:56

because we're dedicating, and we're going

1:59

to dedicate... A specific podcast the

2:01

some of these the biggest names I use

2:03

their into effect said they deserve support is

2:05

there are yeah so they're talk about thirty,

2:07

Stefano Young, Price Messy and Rinaldo on a

2:09

separate I pods cause just basically they do

2:12

deserve a full podcast a list of their

2:14

own but there are not the one off

2:16

to the podcast we dedicate purely to deal

2:18

with it all on a good set of

2:20

at or has a focus is on his

2:22

neck, isn't even ever played allele the said

2:24

he. Is never played a la

2:26

Liga. He's looking a footpath. I'm sorry I'm between

2:29

not getting sick and are you married Mckenna buys

2:31

a sudden we did. I have a present yes

2:33

this isn't for me to the greatest Davis a

2:35

good the beach go machines he will be right

2:38

that the top of the lists but this is

2:40

about were feel as if approved. Let him out

2:42

of Ff Ff adviser had a huge impact at

2:44

in Valleys and I were going to kick off

2:47

innocence little bit sort of per logical I think

2:49

or how we are we've done this little bit

2:51

chronological cast semi the space, ecological babies know exactly

2:53

don't have a go off or not. Mean

2:55

more. This is a little bit more

2:58

logical are also we are recording alfresco

3:00

so as apologies if there is a

3:02

little bit of background noise is sending

3:04

with fresca have really Miami and one

3:06

hundred thousand? Yes! So we're going to

3:08

kick off by talking about said Laszlo

3:10

Kabbalah or that is slow to buy

3:13

them as is known in Spain might

3:15

be nationalised Spanish. I've got a had

3:17

a colleague was called that is unease.

3:19

Would. You call him lovely ladies. Are

3:21

this: Yes. The. Said not a very

3:24

common name is Navarre when I know about

3:26

last local ballot is a name that is

3:28

very much known says to Barcelona of as

3:30

if you're not Barcelona fun He piles up

3:32

my ring a bell. Uma, I've heard of

3:34

him. You might not be aware of the

3:37

impact he had on full from Buffalo. I

3:39

mean as a rule of thumb. If

3:41

you've got a statue outside camp now

3:43

this you've done or I don't know

3:45

I don't have the data for failure

3:48

and forever for a club like Barcelona

3:50

that that so of said he already

3:52

and a father's com those as significant

3:54

as well but his was. it's partly

3:56

been mythologized. he's always

3:58

seen as the guy the building Obviously he

4:00

didn't physically build it, although if you see footage

4:02

of him he could have done it because he

4:04

was a big strong man. He could

4:06

have hot carried for you quite easily. But

4:09

he's always seen as a guy who built the

4:12

Cam Nieuw because he changed everything from Barcelona. He

4:14

was the one who made them the best team in

4:16

the world, which they were, until the signing of Stefano.

4:18

Not the best team in Europe. Well, they were the

4:20

best team in the world before the signing of Stefano,

4:22

so that's what changes it. They

4:25

were, in a way, Barcelona were victims

4:28

of timing. Had the European Cup begun

4:30

six, seven years earlier, or maybe even

4:32

six, seven years later, this whole thing

4:34

might feel very, very different. And

4:36

he was the one that, through the, at

4:39

least this is the way the story runs, that

4:41

through the impact of what he did for the

4:43

revolutionizing of football, through changing the way the game

4:45

was played, through making it exciting, created an environment

4:48

in which the old saying was too small. And

4:51

they needed this new state. Now, it's not entirely

4:53

true. They'd already bought the plot of land before

4:55

he'd even arrived. But that's certainly

4:57

kind of the justification for it. So

5:00

he signed for Barcelona in 1951, and

5:02

the actual transfer is an interesting one.

5:04

And his backstory is

5:06

also pretty fascinating. Yeah, absolutely. And he

5:08

plays his first game in 1951, but

5:10

he's officially signed the year before, but

5:13

he's on an amateur contract for that

5:15

first year, basically because, I mean, Well,

5:18

let's not cut a very long story short, but let's try and praise

5:21

here a little bit. Obviously, Cubala is

5:23

Hungarian. He escapes

5:26

after the 48th rising,

5:30

I believe it is. He decides to see what

5:32

he wants to leave. He actually crosses into

5:35

US-controlled Austria on

5:38

the back of a Russian truck. He's a refugee. Yeah,

5:40

pretending to be a Russian soldier through the middle of

5:42

the night, crosses the Alps. From

5:44

Austria, he goes to Italy. In

5:46

Italy, he has the opportunity to

5:48

play for Torino, which he turns down.

5:51

And actually, the game that he would have played, the

5:53

game that they offered him to play in, was the

5:55

one that they were on their way to when they

5:57

had the plane crash, the Superga plane crash, which,

5:59

of course, killed the entire Torino

6:01

team. He was

6:04

told that because he was denounced by

6:06

the Hungarian Football Association he was effectively

6:11

banned from playing football. So what

6:13

happens is he plays for a team

6:16

called Pro Patra in Italy and then

6:18

he becomes forms a team called Hungria

6:20

with Fernando Dalšek who is his brother-in-law,

6:23

a load of other Hungarian refugees

6:25

and they create this team because they're

6:28

officially not allowed to play football.

6:30

That team tall Spain and in Spain

6:32

in 1950 of course he gets seen

6:34

by Espanyol, Real Madrid and Barcona

6:36

and this is before the Stefano the

6:39

original Barcona, Real Madrid to tug

6:41

of war. Because Real Madrid were

6:43

very interested in signing him. Real Madrid believe that

6:45

they have a chance of getting him. They've offered

6:47

him a contract. He is inclined

6:51

to take it but also knows he

6:53

has a discussion with Barcona pending. Barcona

6:55

get this Hungarian swimmer whose

6:57

name I'm going to look up for you because I have

6:59

it written down Zolymi who basically decide

7:01

they say right stick to him don't let him

7:04

get outside make friends with him and just kind

7:06

of you know nudge him our

7:08

way and sticking to him and making friends

7:10

with him essentially involves drinking an enormous amount

7:12

of alcohol and in the end Barcona

7:15

when they have a discussion with Corbala

7:18

about the contract Corbala pulls a piece of paper out of

7:20

his pocket and says I want a contract like this and

7:22

what he shows them or at least this is the version

7:24

of the story that's been accepted over the years what he

7:26

shows them is a copy of the offer that Real Madrid

7:29

have given him and in the end Barcona

7:31

take it now one of the reasons why Real Madrid

7:33

were furious about this was because Real Madrid have been

7:35

told by the Spanish Football Federation to back off not

7:37

to try and sign him because the problems it would cause them

7:39

with FIFA because he's officially at this point ineligible

7:42

for playing he can't play football he's not

7:44

allowed to he's he's a he's a pirate

7:46

footballer which is a phrase he can't play

7:48

official games so he plays with Barcona in

7:50

St. Brendan there's a lovely limeware

7:53

Pepe Simidier who is the Sport and Director at

7:55

Barcelona In the in, the in, some of

7:57

the friendlies and obviously this tells you these are different times. Remember

8:00

you go on the pitch, your name is Ali

8:02

gotta you and your meat. So

8:05

let's say a Big Lebowski using Podimata.

8:08

He got a Or for years or

8:10

to get. Oh yes, it's true threat.

8:12

He was very very very expensive. Ottawa.

8:14

Oh yeah, that's payment of one thousand

8:16

two hundred pesetas a month plus an

8:18

extra three thousand. Eight hundred pesetas in

8:20

both. Note of Living Expenses Know that's

8:22

on. That is a an enormous amount

8:24

of money for crash. Those expenses are

8:26

quite right Now that's on him. Us

8:28

on the field was this is. Our

8:30

fearless Worth it though. Absolutely worth it.

8:32

You know this is a guy genuinely

8:35

and he taught ac my sister's autonomously

8:37

for the books. They

8:39

read due to supplant. Dot.

8:48

East courtesy to win games his own and

8:50

he was this enormous powerful Muslim am very

8:53

very elegant with it very dainty on the

8:55

but we watch footage of him in Italy

8:57

has dragged back from flicks and stuff and

8:59

or ice. It looks like hold football

9:01

but he still looks like is different

9:03

and there's a census that he can't

9:05

have revolutionized the game so seamlessly said

9:08

it's he changed the game code. And

9:11

time and Norm was doing it. He was doing

9:13

he did things are they getting they hadn't seen

9:15

before and they won for league titles with him.

9:18

They want five cups with him, you know? So

9:20

the league and fifty two, Fifty three, Fifty Nine

9:22

sixty the cops and fifty one Fifty Two Fifty

9:24

three, Fifty seven and Fifty five. They won the

9:26

face cup which that's why I'm in a wasn't

9:29

the an official European competitions. Kind

9:31

of. Makes them the best team in

9:33

Europe. A minute says a little bit more for Rock

9:35

Sioux City to him but but you know boss and

9:37

I would you be there was a European competitions affairs

9:39

gop is what would eventually segue into into the you

9:42

enjoy. The cab driver there were there was still therapy

9:44

your pick up and start to get some is that

9:46

when the feds come before that and and they win

9:48

it than as is right over lot of your progress

9:50

to the to to they actually when are the overlaps

9:52

me about our own Fifty fourth is a point of

9:54

we're fifty four Sixty eight Yes. yes it

9:57

was a for year kind of bizarre complicit

9:59

on if is They also won what

10:01

was known as the Coppa Latina, which is essentially, I

10:03

think I'm right in saying, France, Italy and Spain. You

10:05

know, a chunk of Europe. And they were the best

10:07

team around. And he was,

10:09

you know, the heart of that team. He's also

10:11

the reason why the Holy

10:14

Stefano thing happened. Because

10:16

he got tuberculosis, he lost

10:18

seven kilos, he had

10:20

a medical report that said, quite brilliantly, no apt to

10:22

play in the important thing, you know, not apt for

10:24

playing football, can't play football anymore. And

10:27

that is the moment in which Barcelona start looking for a

10:29

replacement for him. Because they're worried about him. They start looking

10:31

for a replacement. Of course, the person

10:33

they find is Alfredo Stefano. To

10:36

be continued? To be continued, yes. We will all

10:38

save that story. Obviously, what happened was he overcame

10:40

tuberculosis and carried on playing anyway. Yes, and Stefano

10:42

joined Real Madrid. But then, Stefano and him were

10:45

really, really good mates. And Stefano, Stefano always said,

10:47

you know, he was a special player. They

10:50

worked together at Español. Yeah, they were together at Español.

10:52

Now they play together at Español. Both

10:55

come into the end of their career. Right. And

10:57

Stefano had an awful lot of time for him. So he

10:59

could kick the ball like a cannonball. Yes.

11:02

Right. Well, another man who could kick a

11:04

ball like a cannonball is Luis Aragones. Let's

11:06

talk about him and his

11:08

move to Atletico Madrid. Obviously,

11:10

he is a legendary figure in

11:13

Spanish football. Yeah. Again,

11:15

a lot of people listening to the podcast will know

11:17

him as the manager of the Spain national team. Obviously,

11:19

led them to their triumph in Euro 2008. A

11:23

manager of clubs as well. Not

11:26

least at Atletico Madrid, but as a player,

11:28

he had a huge impact on

11:30

Atletico. He made his La

11:32

Liga debut for... Real

11:34

Oviedo. Real Oviedo. Yes. He had his

11:37

first ever game at La Liga. So

11:39

we've managed to get Real

11:41

Oviedo into the podcast and

11:43

that's it. Then he moved to Real Betis, where he

11:45

was for a couple of years. Yeah. Then

11:49

he joined Atletico Madrid and went on to achieve

11:51

so much... Yeah, and become arguably the most influential

11:53

figure in the history of Atletico. And

11:55

should... I say

11:57

should. Yeah, okay. I'm going to stick with should. The

12:00

go the most important goal and athletes coaches

12:02

entire history. This in the you are you

12:04

know your sims for your brink of European

12:07

Cup final that we got some because and

12:09

we find that had before cynical seventy four

12:11

them in prison for and he scores a

12:13

goal the next time a free kick and

12:16

the as an expert free kicks that the

12:18

getting laid off against the hundred eleventh minute

12:20

when he schools and then with a couple

12:22

minutes to go Caicos Watson back schools of

12:25

I mean it is ludicrously long range shot

12:27

which frankly the goalkeeper and I ran his

12:29

dad. Makes is a public was

12:31

pepper and than him I was make

12:33

Israel's enough On and off so slides

12:36

out creep into Amman of i think

12:38

it was him makes a bit of

12:40

a mess of on it and it

12:42

finishes one one and by Munich when

12:44

the replace our final five Munich renounce

12:46

the opportunity to play an Intercontinental cup

12:48

and so Atletico Madrid gum when Intercontinental

12:50

cup so that the only team spas

12:52

enough to have on the Intercontinental cup

12:54

without winning the European cup. he's also

12:56

the top goalscorer. the history of us

12:59

had to go Madrid and from Greece

13:01

was close again he's about source. Forty

13:03

or fifty goes by so you know

13:05

drag strike as a different a serious

13:07

yeah exactly a friend and sixty games

13:09

is go easily by further too much

13:11

or it's just an idea and not

13:13

really a goalscorer as such in the

13:15

he was he was kind of know

13:17

around crazy but such king midfield us

13:19

amount of an incredible. And

13:22

As As as well as the As. As

13:24

such a bastard, but that's interesting. Nothing really

13:27

comes across when it becomes a manager of

13:29

the Flyers with my influential signings. You

13:31

know as will do. I'm sure

13:33

about crisis and his influence goes

13:35

well beyond the valleys by he

13:37

becomes a manager immediately after. Stopping.

13:39

been a plan media the winners wins the

13:41

copy wins i think as a plan three

13:43

free leaks into two cups the manages eating

13:46

thousand because this is us in of this

13:48

is a guy who's impact on at company

13:50

whose whose manager at a company for different

13:52

jobs as remote and resigning yeah that is

13:54

manning a huge favorite sadness it's it's it's

13:56

quite sure i think we saw this when

13:58

he died and we the zebra from

14:00

Atletico Madrid when he died I think told

14:02

you how important he is. They still sing

14:04

his name, I mean his name still gets

14:07

sung at most games. Obviously it's a slightly

14:09

sort of facile thing to say but he

14:11

is Atletico Madrid, I mean he symbolises a

14:13

lot of what Atletico Madrid fans identify with.

14:15

Absolutely and as I say you know he

14:17

becomes manager immediately after he stops playing he

14:19

wins the Intercontinental Cup and he's he's

14:23

yeah exactly he symbolises that. Born

14:25

in Orta Létha which is north-east of Madrid which

14:28

is not necessarily Atletico country but

14:30

very very associated with being Madre Leno, with

14:32

that great word Castifo which is really difficult

14:34

to translate, kind of real

14:37

authentic, the tradition of Madrid is

14:39

like the heartbeat of Madrid

14:41

as a city and you're right in that sense

14:43

he's the embodiment of what Atletico would

14:46

like to think they are and also even

14:48

stylistically because he was despite what happened in the

14:50

Spanish national team a coach who was largely wedded

14:52

to the idea of counter-attacking football until of course

14:55

he took over the Spain team saw what he

14:57

had and said okay so that's the other thing

14:59

of course his influence with the Spanish national team

15:01

is gigantic too. I mean as we will see

15:03

with quite a lot of these signings it is

15:05

perhaps interesting to see or just imagine hypothetically what

15:08

happens if they're not there. I mean if Luis

15:10

Atletico doesn't join Atletico Madrid he stays with Betis

15:12

when he goes back to Oviedo. We could have

15:14

been the biggest team in Spain. Who knows what would

15:16

have happened again. He

15:19

was manager of Rell Oviedo when we were relegated. Oh

15:22

was he? Yeah in 2001 and said to Esteban

15:25

a really nice line I mean obviously I

15:27

suppose it was a huge amount of consolation

15:29

at that point but Oviedo

15:31

go down it's very famous he said to

15:33

Esteban every time it rains it clears up again.

15:37

This might seem like a tragic storm now but

15:39

people come good. People in Oviedo know that it

15:41

rains all the time. Yes it

15:44

clears up again and then it rains again. And actually didn't

15:46

clear up for god knows how many years. Still

15:49

hasn't cleared up. All right

15:51

so that's Luis Atletico. Let's move on and

15:53

talk about another player and another team and

15:56

go into the 80s now. That

15:59

was in the... had

18:00

the offer. They knew the size of the offer, they knew it

18:02

would be huge, but they put it to a

18:04

vote. Should we let him go or not? And

18:06

in the end they got a yes because, you know, the

18:09

sense that you can't deny this guy an opportunity because he

18:11

had a huge amount of money that was going to bring

18:13

an Alta Lita finger in a minute. And he

18:15

went to Valencia and was absolutely brilliant. He

18:19

also obviously won the World Cup in 1978 with Argentina

18:21

on home score. The

18:26

interesting fact that I saw today was that he was the

18:29

only foreign-based player in

18:31

that Argentina squad. Do

18:34

you think the fact that he was a World

18:36

Cup winner and quite all, I don't know, for

18:38

one of a word, glamorous, adds to his legend?

18:40

Absolutely. And also the way he looked. Definitely, yes,

18:42

I was going to say, talk about glamorous. He

18:44

did have that look and the hair and

18:46

everything else. Yeah, exactly, the

18:49

milena, that lovely word. What do you call that? I think

18:51

it's lox, the flowing lox. 40 million, per se, to the

18:53

equivalent of about $600,000 at the time, which

18:59

is a huge free. He tells the

19:01

story about how he played his first game

19:03

in the Trofeo de la Anja, Valencia's traditional

19:05

pre-season tournament. And they drew

19:08

2-2 with CSKA Moscow. He misses his

19:10

penalty in the shootout. And everyone says,

19:12

this guy is rubbish. There's actually a

19:14

little bit of newspaper clippings talking

19:16

about how the fans have it out with him. They don't

19:18

think he's very good. They've been left down yet again. And

19:20

it all goes good.

19:25

It's not like fans to be reactionary, is it? Yeah, especially

19:27

not. Was that Valencia? Yes. And he

19:30

then played his first league game against

19:32

Seltre, I think scores twice. And the

19:34

rest is history on TSP present. Yes.

19:36

I mean, as you said, he's caught

19:39

loads of goals for Valencia and led

19:41

them to the Copwinas Carpas, we said,

19:43

which was their first major piece of

19:45

European silverware. They were someone they

19:47

were for, Super Cup and obviously the Copa

19:49

del Rey to get into the Copwinas Cup

19:51

as well. A really successful period, scoring a

19:54

lot of goals and remains a legend.

19:56

He's on ESPN now, I think. Yes, he

19:58

is. He's a very good pundit. because

20:01

he's incredibly honest, quite

20:04

direct. He's braving what he says, because

20:06

as a Valencia ambassador, official- Yeah,

20:08

I was going to say, that's the thing. They still look at him quite a

20:10

lot for comment on the state of the club, and

20:12

it's usual up and down. And he says

20:14

things, and he criticizes elements of Valencia, despite

20:16

the fact he's a club-employed ambassador, which is

20:19

very, very unusual. But he has a status,

20:21

I think, and an attitude as well,

20:24

which means he's prepared to do so. Let's

20:28

move on and talk about another player

20:31

who had a big impact, maybe

20:34

even more so off the pitch than

20:36

on the pitch in La Liga. John

20:38

Aldrich, in his move to Real Sociedad.

20:41

This was a transfer that Sydney insisted,

20:43

we stuck into this podcast,

20:46

for one major reason.

20:49

And what was that, Sydney? Well, the major reason is

20:51

that we're talking about the influence and the impact that

20:53

signings have. And I think the impact of

20:55

Aldrich, when we're talking about the first

20:58

non-Bask player that Real Sociedad has signed in

21:00

30 years, the breaking

21:02

of a policy, I think that has

21:04

an influence way beyond just Real Sociedad.

21:06

I think Aldrich was one that, because

21:09

of how well he played, I mean, he wasn't the

21:11

only one, because obviously he arrived, Kevin Richardson arrived, and

21:13

Dalian Atkinson arrived as well. But he's the one that

21:16

starts all of this. And what he did was justify

21:18

that it was worth breaking this policy.

21:21

And it's a policy that's a curious one, because of course he

21:23

turns up in September 89, and

21:26

they then buy him,

21:28

they buy other foreigners, they don't buy

21:31

a non-Bask Spaniard until 2001, when

21:34

they buy Boris from... Real

21:36

Oviedad, of course. So this

21:39

tells you that there was still that slight sense

21:41

of should we really have broken this? And we

21:43

don't wanna break it entirely, but Aldrich became absolutely

21:47

adored by Real Sociedad Fanta. And this is a

21:49

guy who turns up, turns up

21:51

at the training ground, and sees graffiti

21:53

on all of the training ground, saying,

21:55

no outsiders welcome here. The first

21:57

thing he sees pretty much when he sees... Was it in English?

22:00

I literally don't know the answer. You might have had no idea

22:02

what he said. No, I think... They

22:04

probably told him it said, welcome John. No, no,

22:06

no, actually, funny enough, now that you say that,

22:08

that brings to mind the story. And I think

22:11

he tells the story of asking what

22:13

it says and someone telling him. And you're right, they

22:15

could have said that. It says, John, you're lovely. We

22:17

really will. We love you, with Darsh. Have a great

22:19

time. And obviously, the context of this is that... And

22:23

the reason they changed the policy is that

22:25

they're starting to get picked off. So, L'Ozprefricarte,

22:27

Baccero, Beguiristain, they've all gone. These are their

22:29

big, big players. You know, they

22:31

go to Boston. And funny enough, all three

22:33

of those players publicly complained when they signed

22:36

Aldridge. Well, yeah, but it's

22:38

partly happening because you're going. The

22:40

other great thing about John Aldridge, of course,

22:43

you've got Saint Sebastian, one of the greatest

22:45

cities in the world. You couldn't ask to

22:47

live in a nicer place. Couldn't

22:49

settle. Didn't like it. Went home and ran in.

22:51

He loved it. This is the weird thing. He

22:54

loved it. His phrase was, food, drink

22:56

and football, what more can you want? That's

22:58

what I had and that's what my life is. Problem was,

23:00

his daughters didn't settle very well. And so when he

23:02

left in 1991... He was only there

23:04

for two years. He was only there for two years. He scored a lot

23:06

of goals. He left in 1991. And

23:10

I remember him saying, and there's some

23:12

lovely footage of this, him saying basically,

23:16

I'm very sad to go. I don't want to go,

23:18

but I've got to go. It

23:20

then took him a very long time to go back.

23:22

He was back for a documentary about two, three years

23:24

ago and the reception was extraordinary. Did he pick up

23:26

any Spanish? A little bit, yeah. Not a

23:28

huge amount, but a little bit. He was only a couple of years

23:31

ago. So when he came back and this reception thing that he came

23:33

to a couple of years ago, he came

23:35

back and he spoke to the media in broken

23:37

Spanish then. 1.5 million euros. It

23:41

was in 1989, not 1981. So yeah,

23:43

he was there for a couple of years. And

23:45

as Al says, he went back to Tranmio Rojas,

23:48

which is quite an interesting game. When

23:50

he went to Raul Sotidad, he didn't

23:52

want to go. He was very, very bitter at

23:54

the way that Liverpool had tried to push him out.

23:56

He liked him with a return to the A-Roc. Because

23:58

he was brilliant. Absolutely amazing. Yeah, absolutely. So

24:01

there we go. An impact as much off the pitch

24:03

as on the pitch at John Aldridge. 40 goals, man.

24:06

In 75 appearances, which is a pretty good story.

24:08

Sick of them at the Camp Nou. Yeah,

24:11

yeah, yeah. Big help. Another

24:13

player that you insisted we stick in

24:15

here. Is Donato and

24:17

his move from Athletic Madrid to Deportivo

24:20

La Coruña in 1993. There

24:22

was a deal done for

24:24

him to go to Real Madrid. Okay. But he

24:26

did not find this out until much, much later. And

24:29

that deal was never accepted because of course, Jesus

24:31

Hill was like, there's no way I'm telling this

24:33

guy to Real Madrid. But he didn't actually want

24:35

him at Athletic anymore. Donato was already getting on

24:37

a bit. He was 31 when he

24:39

arrived at Deportivo. Now that's not to say, but

24:41

okay, this is the end of it. But he

24:44

was 31 when he arrived. He signed a four-year

24:46

deal. He then, from

24:48

that moment onwards, signed one-year deals

24:50

every year for seven years. He

24:53

was playing till he was 41. A decade, it's

24:55

incredible. I mean, that is quite an impact. And

24:58

obviously, in terms of an impact and a moment,

25:02

you can actually argue that in that team, Maldo Silva

25:04

was as important as him. But this is the guy

25:07

that becomes the oldest ever outfield player to score in

25:09

La Liga history. The oldest

25:11

outfield player to score in La Liga history at 41. And

25:15

of course, I suppose, in terms of an

25:17

impact, an emotional impact. He is on the

25:19

pitch when Deportivo blow the league title. He's

25:22

a regular penalty taker, but he's not on the pitch. He's on the bench.

25:24

That's the point. Therefore, the penalty gets

25:27

missed by Jukic and Deport don't win the

25:29

league. Do finally win the league in

25:31

99, 2000. He's

25:34

the guy that scores the header that wins the league for them.

25:36

And if only for that, Donato, this

25:38

man with a big fat belly, who I went

25:40

to interview, I didn't realise this until I started

25:42

looking this up. I went to interview

25:44

18... He was a big fat belly. He was. He

25:47

was roly-poly. Yes. I

25:49

interviewed him 18 years ago. And there's a line in the

25:51

interview where he says, we have a real problem with the

25:53

press here. All they want to talk about

25:55

is Madrid and Barcelona. But wow, some things

25:57

have never changed. He

26:01

lives in Australia still. He is desperate to

26:03

have some sort of coaching role at the

26:05

club but the phone just doesn't ring. I

26:08

mean I was looking on his Wikipedia page and

26:10

he apparently has had

26:12

some rather lowly coaching jobs in

26:14

regional Galician teams. I mean he's

26:17

really sort of linked to the grassroots Galician

26:19

books. It's clearly a sign that somewhere online

26:22

he loves football and he just wants to

26:24

be involved. And he's also an honorary Galician

26:26

guy. He's got Spanish nationality played for Spain.

26:28

He's played for the Spanish national team. He'd

26:30

waited a long time for the call.

26:32

I think he gets called up at

26:34

29 or 30 by Javier Clemente. Gets

26:36

his Spanish nationality. I

26:39

seem to remember but I haven't

26:41

been able to find a video him doing an

26:43

advert which is a

26:45

little bit like that John Barnes Lucas Aid advert where John

26:48

Barnes comes into the game and opens up his lockers and

26:50

says Lucas Aid gets to you fast. Anyway but Donato's one

26:52

is he opens up the... I'm the early 1990s to

26:55

people who wouldn't be surprised. Lucas Aid

26:57

is isotonic blah blah blah. Anyway there's

26:59

a Donato version of it. I

27:01

say version of it that would be unfair. Where he opens

27:03

up his locker and I remember

27:05

this so vaguely that I'm convinced I must be wrong

27:08

but if someone's ever seen it and has a link

27:10

to it will he find it? Well it'll be on

27:12

YouTube. Well I was looking and I couldn't find it.

27:14

Anyway and he goes to his locker and takes out

27:16

the Bible instead. Oh wow okay. Incredibly devout. An athlete

27:18

of Christ. That group of kind of Brazilian

27:22

evangelist footballers. Alright okay. Hold him on the radio. He's

27:24

got a funny voice. He's got a very funny voice

27:27

which is one of the things that was so striking

27:29

about that advert. Alright listen we'll leave it there. Thank

27:31

you for accompanying us on this journey

27:33

through a history of most influential and biggest

27:35

impact transfers in La Liga over the last

27:37

few decades. What have we learnt this time?

27:40

In the first episode we learnt as a

27:42

player never say never. In the second episode

27:44

we learnt as a club. Make sure your

27:46

release clause on a player is substantial. Have

27:48

we learnt any lessons this time? Have

27:50

we learnt any lessons? Yeah. Maybe the lesson is

27:53

you might not expect it but some people can change your

27:55

life. Wow okay. Profound.

27:57

Profound isn't it? I mean you know.

28:00

on Aldridge, they knew it was changing because of the

28:02

policy. But that policy that was done

28:04

with a sense of regret and actually very soon

28:06

it was embraced. You go to Kobala, he brings

28:08

you a stadium. This, you know, all right, people

28:10

did know that Kobala was a big name. People

28:12

did know he was exciting. The plan of the

28:14

stadium was already there. But you know, people can

28:17

change your life. Just like

28:19

you've done mine. Let's

28:23

leave it there on that wonderful... For the better I heard. Oh,

28:25

heavens yes. Let's leave it there. Thank you for

28:27

joining us. We'll be back in another couple of

28:29

weeks with another edition of

28:31

TSFP Presents APC. We'll

28:59

be back in a little bit.