Two years without stepping on the playing field have been enough for Victor Machín ‘Vitolo’ convince himself that his time as a professional player has already passed. In this way, the former Sevilla player has decided to hang up his boots with 35 years after experiencing an ordeal of injuries. This is what the Canary Islands player said on the Attitude Constante podcast: “People will have known, because I haven’t stepped foot on a football field in two years.”
In fact, Vitolo played his last game as a professional on April 15, 2023 against Granada. It was not the best farewell, since the player returned after four months without playing, but ended up sent off five minutes after leaving. Since leaving Sevilla in July 2017, the footballer has not reached the level he had in Nervión. Atlético de Madrid paid the clause of 35 million euros, but could not play with the colchonero team until 2018, since they were sanctioned without being able to register players by FIFA. During those months he was in Las Palmas, the club where he trained.
Under Simeone’s orders, the Canarian never achieved regularity due to injuries. His last game as a colchonero was on April 22, 2021. Then he was loaned out twice in a row: at Getafe in 2020-21 where he only played seven games and at Las Palmas in 2021-22, in which he played eight games. In neither team did he manage to score or offer assists. The culmination of his career was the operation he had to undergo in May 2023. Vitolo underwent a complete reconstruction of the anterior ligament plasty of his right knee. Ten months of sick leave, which ended up giving him the finishing touch.
A sad end for a player who shone with his own light in Nervión. Vitolo arrived at Sevilla in 2013-14, after paying the Nervionenses three million euros. An investment of ten for the Sevilla club, since the Canarian had no major injuries and played more than 40 games per season and was one of the most relevant players on the Sevilla team.
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