No one would have recognized him on the streets of the small district of Dolores de Pacheco, where

Racing Murcia

trains and plays

.

Not even the most madridistas.

He no longer sports the mane of braids that flew when the Bernabéu band went up 13 years ago, careers that would cost him to find his current weight.

At the age of 33,

Royston Drenthe

returns to Spanish football with the physique of a fan who barely plays pachangas with friends.

The Dutchman is the star signing of Racing Murcia, a team founded in 2013 that veteran David Vidal led to the Third Division last summer before being fired by

Morris Pagniello

, the Italian-

Australian

businessman who runs the club.

A sticker collector who has tried to sign, or so he says to the surprise of the protagonists themselves,

Eto'o

,

Rafa Márquez

,

Cassano

or the Englishman Joleon

Lescott

.

What is true is that he had

Pogba's

brother

, Mathies,

on the team

.

In addition, another former Madrid player with a difficult past,

Edwing Congo

, is his international scout.

Drenthe is the reinforcement he is looking for for promotion to Second B. He will not debut this week due to the scourge of the storm Filomena, time to fulfill the purpose of losing "three kilos in a week", after months without playing for the Kozakken Boys , the Third club where he ended up after passing through

Sparta Rotterdam

.

In his city, he tried to be a footballer again after announcing his retirement in 2017 "because he was not happy", to dedicate himself to rap under the alias

Roya2Faces

.

Paranoid

,

No Mercy,

or

Deadzone

were some of his songs.

Owner of a bar, a perfumery and a gym in Rotterdam, he claimed that he did not return to football for financial reasons.

And he took it seriously: he

weighed 96 kilos and lost 22 in eight months

.

«I have to take care of myself to be able to run like my 18 or 19 year old companions.

My head is where it needs to be, "he said at the beginning of 2019.

Bad head

Father of six children of four women, "and now single", has recognized from Murcia, the head is what has failed the Dutchman the most, who arrived at Real Madrid as the best player of the European Under-21 in 2007 after paying

Feyenoord

of 14 million euros.

One of his first exploits in the capital was crashing into a police patrol on Alcalá Street.

Then came the booths at the Buddha, the parties with Robinho, the casino ...

"In Madrid there are many temptations when you are young and a Real Madrid footballer

,

" he

admitted.

Sneijder, Robben, Van Nistelrooy, Van der Vaart and Drenthe, the five Dutchmen from Real Madrid in 2008.ALBERTO CUÉLLAR

He played 65 games with the white jersey and his inexplicable failure in a heads-up with

Víctor Valdés

at the Camp Nou in the 2008 classic (2-0)

is still remembered

.

Neither

Schuster

nor

Juande Ramos

nor

Pellegrini

wanted him, so when Mourinho arrived he was loaned out to

Hercules

, a recently promoted that was also reinforced by David Trezeguet.

In Alicante, his head also failed him: he was arrested for running

six traffic lights at 180 km / h

at five in the morning and threatening the police who

stopped

him.

He also declared in absentia and went a week without training due to the alleged delay in the payment of his token.

When he returned to Madrid, Mou opened the door wide for him again.

His destiny was a loan to Everton, but then the Russian Super League, the Championship, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates would arrive until he reached the shores of the Mar Menor, where he was rescued by a mentor with a dark side.

Morris Pagniello, a former FIFA player and intermediary, is one of the owners of Genova International School of Soccer (without ties to the Italian team) and runs the club on behalf of the

Racing City Group

, with teams also in Capri and Sacramento (USA). .).

His first contact with Spanish football was an attempt to purchase the

Cultural Leonesa

.

The Italian-Australian police linked him in 2018 to the

plot of fixes

for the Second Playoffs, as well as other Second B matches linked to bets.

The businessman has always denied that relationship, although in Italy he was banned for six months.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • sports

  • soccer

  • First division

LaLigaAsensio liquidates an exemplary Granada

LaLiga Santander 2020 - 2021Zidane: "It hurts for Marcelo and Isco, they are difficult moments"

LaLiga Santander 2020 - 2021 Modric and Ramos, two renewals with a very different aspect

See links of interest

  • Coronavirus Spain

  • Madrid snow

  • Khimki Moscow - Barça

  • Fenerbahce Istanbul - TD Systems Baskonia

  • Olimpia Milan - Valencia Basket

  • Atlético - Sevilla, live