Michu returns to Spanish fourth tier with Unión Popular de Langreo

A year ago Michu was playing in the Champions League; this weekend he hopes to play in Spain’s regionalised fourth tier as he seeks to resurrect his career. The former Spain international rescinded his contract with Swansea City this week and, paperwork permitting, will make his debut on Saturday for Unión Popular de Langreo, who are coached by his brother Hernán Pérez and play in Spain’s tercera división, which is split across 17 regionalised groups.

Michu scored 18 league goals in his first season at Swansea, prompting their chairman, Huw Jenkins, to declare him worth £30m, and made a debut for the Spanish national team during qualification for the 2014 World Cup. But he has seen his career ravaged by an ankle injury. He played only five times on loan at Napoli last season and was not part of Garry Monk’s plans at Swansea. There were offers from clubs in Spain and England over the summer but he rejected them because he was not fit.

With Swansea’s permission, Michu had began pre-season training with Langreo, only to require another operation. As he sought to overcome that he rejoined the tercera división side even though he was officially a Swansea player, finally rescinding his contract with the Welsh club this week. Now, aged 29, he hopes to be able to start again, from the bottom. He first played at this level 12 years ago.
Hernán Pérez said that Michu had recovered fully from his injury but that he had lost some of his muscle tone and still needs to see how his ankle responds to competition. He also admitted that his brother’s psychological recovery was as important as his physical recovery. “He has suffered terribly. Many people would have thrown in the towel already,” he told Radio Marca.

“[The psychological] element is possibly what we have to work on. It’s not that he’s in a bad way but it is true that he has gone from being a professional footballer to finding that interrupted now for almost two years. He has to reconnect, feel like a sportsman again, feel useful, feel healthy. He’s a strong guy and in very little time I think he will be at 100% of his mental capacity too,” Hernán Pérez said.

Cristiano Ronaldo: I want to retire with 'dignity', not in USA, Qatar or Dubai

Cristiano Ronaldo said Friday that he wants to end his career “with dignity” and not playing in “the United States, Qatar or Dubai”. The Real Madrid and Portugal star, the subject of a new documentary that premiered on Monday in London, said Thursday in an interview on ITV’s The Jonathan Ross Show that he expected to play six or seven more seasons and hoped to finish his career at the highest level. The remarks ostensibly referenced the recent wave of top players who have finished their careers outside of Europe’s top leagues, among them MLS imports Didier Drogba, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Andrea Pirlo and David Villa, along with Xavi, the lifelong Barcelona midfielder who signed with Qatari club Al Sadd in May. “That does not mean it’s bad play in the leagues of the United States, Qatar or Dubai, but I do not see myself there,” Ronaldo said. Ronaldo, who turns 31 in February, became Real Madrid’s all-time leading goalscorer last month and has th...

Young people to lose access to unemployment benefits as part of welfare reforms

YOUNG people will not be able to get unemployment benefits until they turn 25 under reforms introduced by the Turnbull Government today. The coalition has unveiled wide-ranging welfare reforms in parliament today, including changes to the Newstart program. It hopes to stop people aged 22 to 24 getting Newstart or the Sickness allowance, and they will instead be shifted to the Youth Allowance payment. This will reduce the amount of money that they will be able to get, costing a single person living away from home about $90 a fortnight. They will also be required to study in order to qualify for the payments. “The key aim of this measure is to provide incentives for young unemployed people to obtain the relevant education and training to increase employability,” according to an explanatory memorandum for the bill. However, it says Youth Allowance does allow students to earn a higher amount of money from part-time or casual work than Newstart, before this begins imp...

Battle to keep guns from former Queensland policeman with PTSD

IT’S been almost 10 years since Ben Alexander Ephraim Dyball left the Queensland police under a cloud of trauma and allegations of bizarre behaviour. He’s had a tough time letting go of the past. That was apparent when officers from Warwick Police — where Mr Dyball was once stationed — raided his Elbow Valley property and allegedly found a stash of old police uniforms, official police notepads, gun holsters (including one of the concealable variety), handgun and rifle ammunition, several police identification cards, two pairs of police handcuffs and 450g of marijuana. A weapons licence Mr Dyball had previously declared stolen and a number of rifle bolts were also seized. The officers had waited until the 49-year-old was at the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) in Toowoomba appealing the suspension of his weapons licence, to exercise their search warrant. The Queensland Weapons Licensing Unit revoked Mr Dyball’s licence in September 2015 following a bizarr...

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