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From Udinese to Granada (and Cádiz?) - the legal rathole: Part 4 (25th November, 2017)

This is a continuation of part 3, where we looked at players who moved from Granada to Cádiz in the 2011-12 season.

Other examples involving non-Spanish players should not be ignored either - there's Scottish midfielder Ikechi Anya who was born in Glasgow and moved to Oxford when he was seven years old. Anya joined the Wycombe Wanderers youth team in the 2003-04 season at the age of 15, having been released by Oxford United, where his performances earned him a debut at the age of 16 in September 2004, becoming the club's youngest ever player.

He was released in the summer of 2007 and signed for Oxford City, before being snapped up in January 2008 by Halesowen Town. In the summer of 2008 he joined the Glenn Hoddle Academy for two years and in February 2009 signed for League One side Northampton Town. Northampton manager Stuart Gray was keen to re-sign Anya on a long-term deal at the end of the season, but in July 2009, he joined Sevilla Atlético, the reserve side of Sevilla, on a two-year contract. He would go on to sign for Celta Vigo in July 2010, and for newly promoted La Liga side Granada the year after.

Ikechi Anya


Loans to Cádiz (2011-12) and Watford (2012-13), and in July 2013, Anya completed a permanent move to Watford, signing a three-year deal. He extended his contract following Watford's promotion to the Premier League in 2015, but on transfer deadline day in August 2016 he moved to Derby County, where he plays to this day.

Midfielder José María Cases, born in Orihuela, finished his development at Villarreal and started competing as a senior with the reserves in the Tercera between 2003-05, also making two league appearances during that time. He spent the following campaign at Terrassa in the Segunda B, before joining his hometown club Orihuela also in that level. In June 2008, he signed a two-year deal at Segunda's Eibar on the expiration of his contract, despite having a previous agreement to join Salamanca when free. He started in 13 of his appearances for the Basques, who suffered relegation.

José María Cases


Cases subsequently had a year at Valencia Mestalla (2009-10), who fell into the fourth division, before returning to Orihuela in the Segunda B. He was bought by Granada in January of 2012, being successively loaned to Cádiz for six months in the Segunda B, Mirandés for six months in the Segunda, and Alcoyano for a further six months back in the Segunda B. He has since played for Greek top-tier side Panthrakikos (2013-15), Belgian second-tier side Eupen (2015-17), and Greek second tier side Doxa Drama.

He isn't the only one to earn a move to the Segunda after a season at Cádiz - midfielder David Ferreiro started his senior career with local Ourense, going on to play six consecutive seasons in the Segunda B, at Ourense (2006-08), Atlético Ciudad (2008-10), Zamora (2010-11) and Cádiz (2011-12). In August 2011 he signed a contract with Granada, being immediately loaned to Cádiz, scoring a career-best 8 goals in 33 games and getting eyeballs from Segunda teams. He earned a loan move to Segunda side Racing de Santander in the summer of 2012, and to Segunda side Hércules for the 2013-14 campaign. He has played in the Segunda ever since that Cádiz loan move - in the summer of 2014, Ferreiro was released by Granada and moved to Lugo - where he played for two seasons - and then to Huesca, where he plays today.

David Ferreiro


Striker Juanjo started his senior career with local Mérida's reserve team (2000-01), he went on to spend one full decade in the Segunda B - Atlético Madrid B (2001-03), Alcorcón (2003-04), Díter Zafra (2004-05), Real Jaén (2005-06), Lanzarote (2006-07), Mazarrón (2007-08), Conquense (2008-09), Villanovense (2009-10) and Guadalajara (2010-11).

Juanjo


In 2011, Juanjo joined La Liga club Granada, but never represented it officially, being loaned to Cádiz and Logroñés in the same tier. In January 2013 he terminated his contract and returned to Guadalajara, signing a two-and-a-half-year deal and for the first time making a Segunda appearance, at the age of 31. He has since played for Lugo (2013-15) and Mirandés (2015-16) in the second division, Villanovense (2016-17) in the third and now for Santa Amalia in the fourth.

Watch out for future parts, involving more 2011-12 Cádiz loan moves and more Udinese to Granada transfers!

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