‘Now, I’m a footballer’
{mb_sdlf_jugador_SDLF-jugador_frase-destacada}Numancia’s signing is all but a milestone in Jordi Sánchez’s sporting career.
“My signing day reception at Numancia was one of the happiest days of my life, a dream come true and my family by my side. Having them feel proud of me is something I can’t even begin to describe with words. A very gratifying moment.”
The words of Jordi Sánchez give an account of his journey to Second Division at age 24. The Barcelona striker was signed by Numancia after a good season in Third Division with Mestalla, the main subsidiary of Valencia: “I was an important player in my team, my coach trusted me and was more than happy to play me for minutes on end and give enough time to score goals. At the end of the season, I was free to sign to wherever I wanted and Numancia caught my interest. It looked like a good move so I didn’t think twice about it.”
“Having MY FAMILY feel proud of me is something I can’t even begin to describe with words”
The Transfermarkt website values Jordi at €600,000. Who would have thought when Jordi, about to turn 14, signed up for the intensive summer courses at Marcet. “I was looking for a campus to improve my technique and where the training was specific to each player. It was without a doubt a completely different campus to what I expected and was used to, especially in terms of the attention to individual players’ needs. I got chosen to compete in a tournament the team was in… It was a great experience.”
With football courses behind, the time came to make certain sacrifices. “When it comes to football you don’t really have much choice but to give everything else up, especially time for family and friends. You know you are going somewhere to work on your football and won’t be seeing them for a long time,” explains Numancia’s striker, who had previously spent time playing for UE Vilassar de Mar, AE Prat and CF Badalona: “We footballers have three weeks off a year and more often than not we don’t even have time to see our loved ones.”
The satisfaction of having reached Second Division compensates the sacrifices. “The rhythm, the intensity, the ambition… Everything is different. Before I wasn’t too confident in openly saying that I’m a football player, they were big words in my eyes, but now I feel comfortable saying that I’ve just started making it happen”, explains the Catalan striker, who after passing through Castellón and Albacete ended up signing for Widzew Lodz. Thanks to his goals, this Polish First Division club had a very good start in the 2022-23 season. So much so, that Jordi already has the Champions League in his sights.