Samuel Eto’o, Albert Luque… Malaga and Mallorca were cousins ​​and almost brothers

Just over two decades ago, Mallorca and Malaga were considered ‘cousins ​​and almost brothers’ because they had a common trunk on their property: Grupo Zeta, a powerful business conglomerate that promotes successful publications such as 'El Periódico', 'Interviu' or 'Sport' among others. Between the end of the 90s and the beginning of this century he entered football and in these two teams that lived under his mantle a time of imposition. This Saturday they face each other again.

In the summer of 1997, Grupo Zeta, owned by businessman Antonio Asensio, now deceased, took over the ownership of Málaga., which was then in Second B. Zeta also owned Mallorca. And since the Sports Law prohibited (and prohibits) timeshare, Serafín Roldán appeared as the owner of Málaga. Grenadian businessman settled in Barcelona, ​​remaining as president from Malaga Fernando Puche placeholder image

Although these two teams were different entities, their sports planning was in the hands of the same person, Carlos Rincón, head of the ISO company (International Sport Organization) that had separated from Bahia.

Málaga managed to be promoted to Second and the manager, which was Bahia, incorporated a total of 19 footballers, many of them from teams it controlled such as Sporting, Badajoz or Mérida. There we find that Gonzalo De los Santos and Manel Ruano, who played in the Extremadura team, were going to head to Mallorca. But there was a change of plans. To Malaga, who paid a total of six million euros (then 1,000 million pesetas). Joaquín Peiró, who entered as coach, had asked among others Lauren, who was in the Raise. But he took the reverse path, to Mallorca.

The team's work paid off and Málaga was promoted to First as champion. And in the highest category, Peiró asked President Puche to sign a promising young man from the Madrid youth squad: Samuel Eto’o who had played for Leganés when he was 16 years old. He was still a diamond in the rough, but the “Metropolitan Greyhound” was convinced he was going to be a world star.

But Carlos Rincón, already with the ISO company splitting the cod, had other plans for the two teams. And he decided that the Cameroonian went to Mallorca. In return, Albert Luque came on loan from the vermilion box and without the later famous and cautious ‘fear clause’. In fact, Luque played 72 minutes at La Rosaleda against Málaga in a match that ended 0-0. In the following season, 2000-01, the Mallorcans would win 0-1 with a distant center-kick from Luque that slipped from the hands of goalkeeper Rafa, dazzled by the sun.

It so happens that, just a year later, Mallorca bought Eto’o, paying 6.7 million euros to Real Madrid and starting an impressive career with Mallorca and later at Barcerlona. For his part Albert Luque had a successful career with the Balearic Islands, Deportivo and the National Team.

That de facto timeshare lasted until 2003 after Asensio's death. Zeta gradually retired from Mallorca and after Málaga, which, after the 2005-06 relegation, was left in the hands of Fernando Sanz, who refloated it before selling his property in 2010 to Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani. Ahiora, Malaga and Mallorca find themselves without that old bond and with the Majorcans about to return to Primera.