After a chaotic few days in the Andalusian capital of Seville, Sevilla’s longest serving and most decorated player, Jesus Navas, has signed a ‘lifetime contract’ that will keep him in the squad until December before the full-back has the option to take up another role within the club.
On Thursday, Navas had announced that he was leaving the club after failing to be offered a new deal at the club.
However, just two days laters, Sevilla’s record appearance holder has signed a new deal at the club which will see him play for free, with his salary donated to a charitable foundation of his choice while he will also be given a role when his playing career comes to an end in December.
The full-back has spent 17 seasons at Los Rojiblancos, making his debut in a 1-0 loss to RCD Españyol all the way back in November of 2003 after being promoted from the club’s youth system which he joined at age 15.
Navas, who spent four years at Manchester City where he won two league cups and one Premier League title, has enjoyed a star-studded career both for club and country.
The defender was part of the victorious Spanish national team for the 2010 World Cup and 2012 European Championship, helping his nation to win the latter two of three major international honours on the bounce.
Similarly, at Sevilla, Navas has propelled his club to continental and domestic silverware. The club captain has won four Europa Leagues, the most recent of which came last season with Navas lifting the trophy after beating Jose Mourinho’s Roma.
In addition, the right-back has won two Copa del Rey trophies, a European Supercup and a Spanish Supercup. On a individual level, the now 38 year-old has scored 39 goals and made 119 assists across 688 appearances for the La Liga team.
All of this history and success had seemed to come to a premature end on Thursday, when in a video on the club’s social media account, a visibly emotional Navas had announced he was making the ‘painful’ decision to leave.
Later on social media, Navas described how, “It has been a sad day, a very difficult day for me and one that I never thought would arrive. A world of football without my Sevilla is not a decision I thought I would have had to take six months ago.”
He added: “I did not receive a single call from the club from those who should have offered me a continuation”.
However, Navas will now be returning to the Ramón Sánchez Pijuan much sooner than he would have expected after club President Jose Maria del Nido Carrasco blamed the situation on a ‘misunderstanding’ before preceding to offer the legendary full-back a lifetime contract.
After being awarded with the new deal, Navas stated how it was always his desire to continue with Sevilla and retire at the club. He said: “Never in one second did I doubt that I would accept the proposal offered by the president of my Sevilla. I want to retire in Nervión. I want to continue playing for my Sevilla.”
He later added: “As Sevillistas, we live in difficult moments and because of this, we need to be united and to be able to continue working for what we all want to achieve: a successful and strong Sevilla, that makes all of us Sevillistas happy.”
Sevilla currently sit in the lower half of the table, languishing in 12th position and have even flirted with relegation at points over the last two years, a far cry from the continental and domestic success that the club is accustomed to.
The longtime defender will now look to play a key role in dragging Sevilla back to where they belong, with a new manager set to take over from the following season, after the club announced current coach Quieque Sanchez Flores will depart following the last two games of the season against Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona.
Flores had helped to lift Sevilla away from the precipice of being in the bottom three, with the club President thanking the 59 year-old coach for all his hard work in helping to get the club out of a ‘tricky situation’, adding that he will always be welcome at Sevilla.
While the difficult and potentially tumultuous times at Sevilla may remain for sometime, with Jesus Navas, Los Rojiblancos have a constant in a strong and reliable captain who can help to guide the club away from stormy waters.
