Manucho - the lion returns. With some Baltasar Gracián thrown in (8th September, 2017)

As the rest of the supporters do, I appreciate his effort and how he tries to fight every single ball, but he is really really bad.

-Daniel Kobe, on Manucho

The club has not announced it (edit: the club announced it at 9:23 am today), but Manucho certainly has - on his Instagram. The Angolan striker is almost certainly back at Rayo, for a fourth season.

Manucho: The lion "comes back home"

This is not necessarily a bad "signing" - Javi Guerra's start to the season hasn't been great, and Raúl de Tomás, for all his qualities, doesn't seem to last 90 minutes week in week out.

It's easy to be harsh on him, but he actually played quite well last season. He scored goals to kill off games, he kept defenders busy, and he gave Rayo an option in the air. And all that as a "super-sub".

For me, there was something quite symbolic about Manucho "leaving" Rayo this summer. He left everything behind for a trail in Manchester, and he faught - quite admirably - for so long to stay in Europe...if he really did have offers from Asian countries it would have marked the end of an era had he taken them - in the worst possible way.

I thought he still had a season left in him.

His name first emerged when Sir Alex Ferguson signed him in January 2008, after a three week trial.

For less than a million euros, Alex was getting, in his words, a "tall, agile, quick forward". However, the striker who should've competed with Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tévez, and Louis Saha, ended up not even getting a work permit.

After six months on loan at Panathinaikos, getting a work permit, getting just three games in the red shirt, and a loan stint at Hull City, it was clear that Manucho didn't belong.

Real Valladolid spent 3 million euros on the player in 2009. In an unforgettable press conference, Manucho promised 40 goals that season. And while he gave a 100% of promised effort, he scored a measly 10% of promised goals - the 2010-11 season was spent on loan at Turkish top flight clubs Bucaspor and Manisaspor, and the 2011-12 season was spent largely on the sidelines watching Valladolid go back up to La Liga.

The picture above reminds me of Baltasar Gracián: “At 20 a man is a peacock, at 30 a lion, at 40 a camel, at 50 a serpent, at 60 a dog, at 70 an ape, and at 80 nothing”. And, quite eerily, Manucho's breakout season was when he was 30 years old too. It was the 2012-13 season that showed what Manucho was capable of - he scored eight goals in just 1653 minutes of game time, and was Valladolid's second top-scorer.

Ever since then, the stats haven't shown something significant. He only scored three goals when Valladolid got relegated again in 2014, and has only scored 14 goals for Rayo in three seasons. He isn't quick by any means anymore, but he brings direct play, a powerful header and a central focal point to the attack.

He fights for every ball, he leads by example, he attacks the defense at their weakest.

The lion may have aged, but he has definitely come back home.

When three teams offered a 19-year-old an eight year contract (11th October, 2017)

Just how many players can you name who have the following descrption: He is a striker of great quality, and was a great promise of Spanish football, but his bad luck and some injuries denied him the opportunity to recover - he has never played more than one season in the same team. This is the story of a player - a technically and physically excellent striker - who made mistakes and suffered injuries very young and never really recovered. Born in Santa Eulàlia de Ronçana, Barcelona, Iván Peñaranda started his youth career at Granollers. His real formation, however, was in the lower categories of Barcelona, in which he stayed for seven years (1991-98). Playing alongside Xavi Hernández, Gabri and Carles Puyol. He was considered as one of the young players with a huge future within the club. In the summer of 1998, he angered Barcelona by using "change of residence" as an excuse to sign for Mallorca B (he would move there along with his family), where he would play alongs

Non-league Incider: St Helens Town 3-0 Atherton Laburnum Rovers

Last game: 8th August: Dulwich Hamlet 2-1 East Thurrock United The previous day, I was blown away by my first ever football match experience. Dulwich Hamlet impressed me, but what impressed me more was the journey. The travel to the stadium was just as enjoyable as the football itself. I had caught the groundhopping bug. There were no games scheduled for the 9th of August. There was one, near Wigan, and all I had booked earlier was a refundable bus ticket from Manchester Airport leaving at quarter past midnight. I should have refunded it. This was a mistake. This whole day was a mistake. I was only slightly hungover from the previous night, but that was nothing compared to this feeling of loss - I couldn't handle the fact that there was a game happening. And I wasn't too far away. Just three hours and a bit. They'll fly by , I thought. I was in autopilot. Something within me made me get up, grab a bag, and get out the door. This wasn't me. I wasn't trave

Francisco Pérez Pérez - the actual oldest player to have played in Spain (1st November, 2017)

I've always wanted to ask a football player: how much do you love your club? If you see your club go down, what are you willing to put on the line to see them go back up? The notion that "players will come and players will go, but the fans are the club" is one that is sadly true in what has become a money-filled sport. The story of a player sacrificing money and success for his club? That story is rare. That story is beautiful. This is that story. This is the story of a player who loved his club. His local club. It'll be a long time if and when someone beats his record. Francisco Pérez Pérez, also known as Chico, currently holds the record for being the oldest player to play in the Segunda B - 43 years and 93 days is the figure. That's a figure that second place Diego Rodríguez Fernández (41 years and 324 days) falls short of by a year and 134 days. I should also point out that the top 3 list for oldest players to play in any of the top three tier

The Pride of Vallekas

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