Breaking: Former Birmingham City midfielder could be a billionaire

admin | March 31, 2024 | Other Clubs | No Comments

Many people would have laughed if someone had told them that Jota, a former Birmingham City midfielder, could be a billionaire by the age of 35.

While not having the most distinguished professional accomplishments, the Spaniard retired in 2022 and chose to invest in Groinn, an agricultural technology startup.

Since then, the former Aston Villa and Brentford playmaker’s business endeavor has taken off, with the focus being on expanding Groinn’s reach into big territories, including Asia, with annual forecasts of the company reaching £3 billion in three years.

Jota’s football career

After rising through the ranks of Celta Vigo’s academy, Jota would only make a handful of first-team appearances for the club he joined at the age of 13. He joined Real Madrid Castilla on loan for the 2012/13 season, but only made three appearances.

Jota would find success during his second loan spell of his career with Eibar in the Segunda División, breaking into the first-team fold and making 37 appearances that season, helping the club achieve promotion to La Liga while scoring 11 goals.

A contract to join the Spanish club was negotiated, but he would return to Celta Vigo before making a permanent move to newly promoted Championship side Brentford.

He struggled at first with the intensity of the English game, but rediscovered his goal-scoring touch midway through the season, helping the Bees to the play-off semi-finals, where they were defeated by Middlesborough. Jota finished the season with 11 goals in all competitions.

The Spaniard had a rough start to the following season, having damaged ankle ligaments that necessitated surgery. He returned to Eibar in January 2016 before being recalled to Brentford a year later, where he finished the season with 12 goals in 23 games. The Bees would like to offer Jota a contract extension, but he would like to move to St. Andrews.

It was believed that Jota had become the Blues’ most expensive signing at the moment, with his four-year contract exceeding £6 million, more than they paid for Nicola Zigic in 2010. A hamstring issue suffered in his second appearance of the season would be the beginning of the end for the Spaniard, with manager Steve Cotterill losing faith in him.

Garry Monk’s presence in the West Midlands appears to have rekindled Jota’s Birmingham career, with the midfielder playing a key role in the Blues escaping relegation in the 2017/18 season. He returned as a regular the next season, scoring three goals and assisting on 11 others.

Jota joined Birmingham’s local rivals Aston Villa in 2019, signing a two-year contract with the newly promoted Premier League club and reuniting with manager Dean Smith, with whom he previously worked at Brentford.

However, barely a year later, Jota left Villa Park after reaching an agreement to terminate his contract. He would return to Spain and play for Alaves on a one-year contract, leaving at the end of the season. Despite apparently receiving offers from Saudi Arabia, Jota chose to retire from football at the age of 31, and the decision changed his life.

Jota set to become a billionaire by next year

After hanging up his boots and deciding against returning to the beautiful game, Jota focused on his business, Groinn.

The 32-year-old is now working in agricultural technology, with his company just agreeing a deal with the Spanish government and projected to be worth £600 million by 2025.

The equipment given assists farmers with activities such as watering plants and adapting to climate change, which was previously accessible at a staggering £25,700.

Groinn, on the other hand, charges £175 for its services, making the technology more affordable to farmers across the country and contributing to the company’s recent growth. Groinn had 150,000 users throughout its first year in business.

However, the company’s expansion does not stop there. Groinn’s yearly revenue is predicted to skyrocket to £3 billion in year three, with the business planning to expand into new markets in Portugal, Northern Europe, and North America, as well as give digital agricultural advice to every agriculturalist in Spain by 2030.

In an interview with The Athletic earlier this year, the former Blues midfielder compared his company to the iPhone, estimating that it is worth “10 times more” than the money he initially invested.

While some footballers would prefer to relax and enjoy their retirement, Jota has gone into overdrive and become a successful businessman, leveraging his time as a professional footballer and investing his earnings rather than spending them to become one of the most successful entrepreneurs to have ever played the beautiful game.