EXCLUSIVE: Juankar, the Braga player who's never been to Braga
Trouble is…he has nothing to do with the club, he has never played with them, nor has he ever visited the city.
Talking to the Spanish paper AS, Juankar denounced the situation he’s been in since the summer of 2011, when the player, a product of Real Madrid’s academy, signed with Sporting Braga.
“I belong to Sporting Braga…and I have never visited the city”, he told the Spanish press.
The 25-year-old is telling the truth, as he has since been loaned to Real Saragoza, Real Betis Sevilla (the only club where he spent more than one season), not to mention the Pozzo family-owned Granada and Malaga.
The player himself explains how this could happen.
“When I left Real Madrid I was purchased by a private investment Fund: Sporting Braga. When you belong to an investment fund you have to belong to a club as well and I belong to Sporting Braga, until 2020.”
“I have never played a game with them, even if there are a few web pages in which it is revealed that I made ten appearances with the club. I’ve never even been to Braga, I don’t know the city, but I heard that it is pretty.”
Juankar is definitely not lacking a sense of humor, but things become serious when it comes to talk about his contract with the club as well as his unaffordable price-tag.
Juankar complains because he is forced to change club every year, and feels that his future as a football player is uncertain.
The reason why Sporting Braga are loaning him year by year is that they eager to find a club which can afford paying the price they require for Juankar’s services: € 6 million.
Too much, even in the player’s opinion.
The question is, which private fund acquired the player back in 2011? It could be one of those gravitating towards the powerful sport agent Jorge Mendes, who is also strongly linked with Sporting Braga, but according to an article published on Estadio Deportivo in summer 2014 (when Juankar was loaned to Granada), the player belongs to….. Doyen Sports.
This could be more than an option as in 2011 Doyen Sport and Jorge Mendes were still on good terms, and the link between Doyen and Granada has always been very strong, as it was also revealed by the publication of a number of Football Leak documents, which I’ll be writing about very soon.
The only thing that we can take for granted for now is that Juankar is playing for a different team every year, and that he has never even visited his club’s headquarters.
Another anecdote might give you a clearer idea about what Third Part Ownership (TPO) really means in the football world.
Juankar’s club Malaga are also dealing with TPO issues, specifically with the one lead by the Lebanese with Venezuelan passport entrepreneur Edmundo Kabchi.
Last summer, Malaga were forced to sell Sergi Darder to Lyon on a € 12 million deal. The Spanish side would have prefer not to sell him or cash in more on his sale.
However, a clause on the TPO contract agreed between Mr. Kabchi and the club forced the La Liga side to sell Darder for an offer of at least € 12 million.
Mr. Kabchi also owned the 50% of the player’s rights and Malaga were forced to split with him the € 12 million income of the player’s sale.
Remember this story when they tell you that investment fund are not influencing club’s negotiations.
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Doyen denies any connection with Juankar: READ HERE.
