Home » Sport » I was given Cristiano Ronaldo's No7 shirt and made £38m in career earnings… now I'm unemployed at 30 | The Sun
I was given Cristiano Ronaldo's No7 shirt and made £38m in career earnings… now I'm unemployed at 30 | The Sun
FORMER Real Madrid star Mariano Diaz once had the world at his feet.
However, now at the age of 30, Mariano finds himself navigating the football wilderness after becoming a free agent.
The Spanish born-Dominican Republic star has seen himself pushed to the side after Carlo Ancelotti added Jude Bellingham, Brahim Diaz, Fran Garcia and Joselu to the Real Madrid squad.
Mariano began his career at youth level with Espanyol, before eventually winding up in Madrid's academy in 2011.
He was handed his senior debut in 2016 by Zinedine Zidane after five years traversing Los Blancos' youth set up.
Mariano made 14 appearances that season, scoring five goals in all competitions.
READ MORE IN FOOTBALL
I’m an England ace who spent 9 years at Arsenal… now I’m unemployed at 25
Win a Lamborghini Aventador + £10k or £145,000 from just 89p with our discount code
His rise brought admirers, however, and he was sold to Lyon in 2017 for a reported fee of £6.9million.
The deal contained a 35 per cent sell-on clause, and just one year later – having scored 21 goals in 48 games for the French outfit – Real Madrid re-signed him for £20m.
He was even handed the coveted No7 shirt at the club following the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Unfortunately, the weight of the number seemed to impact his game and Mariano was instead handed the 24 in the following season, which stayed with him for the remainder of his time at the Bernabeu.
Most read in Football
TRANSFER NEWS
Bayern 'make FINAL Kane bid', £78m Gvardiol set for City move, Mbappe latest
Sheikh set to win £6bn Man Utdrace as date to complete takeover is revealed
LET'S PLAY BALL!
Lineker predicts Prem winner and backs big signing to justify price tag
We and our partners use cookies on this site to improve our service, perform analytics, personalize advertising, measure advertising performance, and remember website preferences.Ok