Very Specific Question No.15: What on earth happened to Michu?

In the summer of 2013, a little over two years ago, the ambition of every Premier League manager and chairman was the same: find the next Michu.

The Spanish forward, who had moved to Swansea 12 months earlier, was held up as the holy grail of successful signings. He had been scandalously inexpensive - costing the Swans a mere £2m from Rayo Vallecano, his wages were modest and, at 26, he had plenty left to give. But Michu was more than just a bargain. Scoring 22 goals in his debut season in English football, at a rate better than one every other game in the Premier League, he looked as if he could walk into any team in the top flight. He had power, class, devastating finishing prowess and an excellent DJ-style goal celebration. Swansea boss Michael Laudrup, himself looking like one of the world’s brightest managerial talents after leading the Welsh side to league cup glory - the club’s first major honour, said he valued the striker at £30m. And the best bit was that striker wasn’t even supposed to be Michu’s best position - he had joined the club billed as a midfielder. Actually, that’s not true: the best bit was that Michu had declared he wanted to go to Scotland in the summer to track down the Loch Ness Monster.

While the Swans basked in the success of their Spanish sensation, every other club in the land kicked themselves for failing to snap up Michu when his agent was peddling the largely unknown player to clubs across England the previous year. Even Sir Alex Ferguson admonished Manchester United’s scouts for overlooking the forward.

That summer, Laudrup added a more traditional centre-forward, Wilfried Bony, to his ranks and a deadly partnership blossomed when both players scored in a memorable 3-0 victory at Valencia in the club’s maiden European campaign. Michu’s first call-up to the Spain squad followed, and he went straight into the world champions’ starting line-up for a World Cup qualifier against Belarus, leading the line in a team that featured Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets and Silva in midfield.

Fast forward to this week, only two years after that match in Palma de Mallorca, and Swansea have terminated Michu’s contract. The man they valued at £30m has been paid to leave the club. He was last seen training with Spanish fourth division outfit Langreo, an amateur side coached by Michu’s brother. It is one of the Premier League’s most drastic falls from grace.

So what the heck happened?

Injuries are partly to blame. In his second season at the Liberty Stadium, Michu’s knees and ankles began to cause him problems. In December 2013 he underwent ankle surgery that the club said would keep him out for six weeks. He returned three months later, but the free-scoring talisman of the previous season had been replaced by a less sure-footed, more lackadaisical player. Michu’s mentor Laudrup was sacked during his absence, and it quickly became evident that the Spaniard was being troubled by more than fitness issues. Ambiguous claims of “personal problems” began to appear in the media, while Michu was said to have suffered from “bad moods” and alleged to have yelled at a member of the club’s communications club “in response to a simple request”.

At the end of that season, Michu made it clear to Laudrup’s successor Garry Monk that he wanted to leave the Liberty Stadium. He was linked with Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham and West Ham, before eventually signing a one-year loan deal with Napoli. The switch was an unmitigated disaster, as the forward’s injury woes resurfaced and restricted him to just five goalless games for the club. He was rated by one Italian media outlet as the biggest Serie A flop of the season, even bigger than Roma’s Ashley Cole. Michu found himself back at Swansea in the close season, but this time it was Monk making it clear that the player’s relationship with the club was over.

Michu’s last competitive goal was scored for Swansea on 24 October 2013, two weeks after his Spain debut. That’s a long time without getting the chance to perform his DJ celebration.

“We just want to see him back to fitness and enjoying his football again,” was the simple wish expressed by Swans chairman Huw Jenkins in the summer. If Michu manages that - and anyone who witnessed that stunning debut season would hope he does - he could yet become football’s best bargain once again.

Follow @darlingkevin on Twitter

READ MORE VSFQs

No.14: Will ‘the Robbie Savage Principle’ change the face of modern football?
No.13: Which injured player has been missed most in the Premier League?
No.12: Would it be a ‘blessing in disguise’ for Arsenal to get knocked out of the Champions League?
No.11: How is Jay Bothroyd going to get back into the England squad?
No.10: What would Rodgers be doing today if Gerrard hadn’t fallen over?
No.9: Why can’t Jose Mourinho win in Newcastle?
No.8: Is Claudio Ranieri actually an evil genius masquerading as a doddery simpleton?
No.7: Where is the real Branislav Ivanovic?
No.6: Which team has had the most disastrous Euro 2016 campaign (even worse than Holland and Greece)?
No.5: How many of Chelsea’s 33 on-loan players will ever become Blues first-team regulars?
No.4: Would West Ham getting £6m for Modibo Maiga be the best piece of business in football history?
No.3: When was the last time no English strikers scored on a Premier League weekend?
No.2: What terrible things would happen if Joey Barton, Kevin Nolan and Andy Carroll were reunited?
No.1: How much did Di Maria and Falcao cost Manchester United per bad touch?