Midfielder Javi García has announced his retirement at the age of 35. In August 2017, the player left Zenit Saint Petersburg to return to LaLiga, arriving at Betis for an amount close to one and a half million euros. During his time at the Verdiblanco club, he played a total of 64 games and scored a goal against Alavés in Mendizorroza.
Javi García was trained in the Real Madrid youth academy, where he came to play in the first team. After a brief stint at Osasuna, where he shone the most, he was at Benfica between 2009 and 2012, a career that allowed him to make the leap to Manchester City. Since then, he has adventures in Russia, Heliopolis and the last one at Boavista, a club in which he could be part of the coaching staff.
YOUR FAREWELL LETTER
“18 seasons and 514 games later I have to say goodbye to you and your pitches. It has been a very nice journey and above all a very long one since I took my first steps at my father’s football school in Murcia. This has been a career that I would have never imagined and that has been full of good moments, which I have enjoyed a lot, and others not so good, which have made me learn and grow at all levels to be able to overcome them.
I will always be grateful to all the coaches and teammates who have crossed my path and who have left their mark on me. Undoubtedly one of the greatest satisfactions that my time in the world of professional football gives me is the number of friends and good people that I have met during all these years and that are for life. I also want to remember all the clubs that I had the honor of representing: Real Madrid, Osasuna, Benfica, Manchester City, Zenit, Betis and Boavista, in addition to the Spanish National Team, which I had the opportunity to defend. Thanks to all of them for making the dream of a child from Murcia come true.
And finally, I want to remember two fundamental parts for me. First of all, I address all the fans who have followed me in my career. To those who have encouraged me in good times and to those who have demanded of me when I could give more of myself. But the most important thing in this journey has been being able to count on the support of my family in all the stages that I have lived. They have been the first to trust me, to celebrate when things were going well and to be with me when I was not going through the best moments. Without them it would not have been possible.
I end by thanking everyone again for accompanying me throughout this journey and we will see each other soon”.