Jesús Vallejo (28) It is a rare avis. Yes, a soccer player who does not say a word higher than another. A player who has always fulfilled when he has been demanded. It is not a period central, nor has it been a regular in the plans of the coaches of the Real Madrid.
But there is something in him that cannot be measured with statistics or played minutes. There is something in their way of being, to accept without resigning, of wanting without noise. Jesús Vallejo It is the clear example of the value of a team player.
He arrived at the White Club as a future bet. A boy who with 17 years and his first season in the elite became captain of the Real Zaragoza. With the calm of who has been in this for years, with the clean look of which he still believes. He debuted without going through the subsidiary, with the 31st behind, in a goalless draw before the recreational. It was the best. Since then, Zaragocismo found in him a lighthouse in the fog.
He Real Madrid He signed him after shining in the European U-19 of Greece. Product also of the excellent relationship that Florentino Pérez had and the then maximum shareholder of the Maño Club, César Alierta.
It was not a galactic signing, but a planting. They gave it to Eintracht Frankfurtwhere he won praise with his early maturity. Then, his debut as a Madrid player arrived in a cup … with direct red in the 89th minute. A cruel metaphor of what would be his time through the Bernabéu: always present, but always on the sidelines.
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Vallejo He lived the glory from the benches. 13 titles, yes. 2 Champions, Club World Cups, Super Cups … but just 2,000 minutes. His history as a Madrid player is who accompanies without prominence, the one who raises trophies he did not play, but that he felt as his own. “I would have liked to play more,” he said in an interview for the 'AS'. “But the competition was brutal.” And thus, between assignments to Wolverhampton, Granada or Frankfurt, he learned to be a shadow footballer.
Today, at 28, he has taken a step back that may be a leap forward. He has arrived at Albacete. Second Division. Again white, but with the feet on the floor. Because the boy who spoke with Cristiano but had Zapater as an idol needed to feel again that he belonged to something. That was not just a name in an eternal template.
In Albacete They have received it as what it is: a serious, humble guy, who sings with their classmates in their presentation, who finally smiles. “The important thing is to add minutes,” he says. Speak as if every game was a blessing. Because for him it is.
Jesús Vallejo It is not a cover crack. Do not fill headlines. But he has been European champion with the Sub-21, an early captain, exemplary professional, generous partner. He never complained, or when the bench was his house, or when the injuries reminded him that this sport also hurts.
Now a new stage begins. Two seasons in a club with history. A place where it can be “mouse head” and not “lion tail.” Where the ball does not burn and the heart beats hard. Where, finally, you can play again without the weight of having to demonstrate anything.
