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Galan Returns For Third Season With Valour FC
By When Jose Galan told us that he would be returning to Valour FC back in an interview last September, he meant it: today, the Canadian Premier League side confirmed that it had re-signed the 35-year-old midfielder to a third season.
The Spanish midfielder arrived back in Winnipeg earlier this March following a short-term stint with CP Villarrobledo, with Galan departing from the Spanish side on a high note after scoring the only goal in a 1-0 away win against Merida AD in the Tercera Division.
The odds of Galan extending his roots in the city appeared much smaller when he first signed in July 2019: a twenty-club man at the time, he had spent the last several years changing clubs frequently, sometimes with more than one move occurring within a calendar year.
Despite the doubts, Galan and his family were quick to settle in to Winnipeg, enjoying the club, the city, and it’s people. His re-signing marks the longest time Jose Galan has spent with any of his 21 clubs.
What I like about Jose is just how much he loves it here. It’s so refreshing in modern-day sport where some of the players are seen as mercenaries and having no loyalty to a club. Here’s a lad that’s travelled the world. When he came in there were probably [had] a few sneers about his age then and what he could bring. But he’s been nothing but absolutely fantastic for our football club and is now entering his third season with us.
Rob Gale
Across the last (and only) two Canadian Premier League seasons, Galan has now represented Valour FC on the pitch no less than 18 times, even donning the captain’s armband when required. Now on the precipice of his 17th season as a professional football, Galan is hopeful that health officials will allow him to play at IG Field in front of his wife and young daughter, who was born in the city.
Speaking with Ed Tait, the veteran midfielder described the possibility as a dream:
When I re-signed the first thing that came to mind was I have to play in front of my daughter in the city she was born. She’s a Winnipegger. Hopefully I can have that happen soon – to play at IG Field with my wife and daughter in the stands. That would be like a dream for me. Being away from them last year was the toughest time ever.
Jose Galan
The Island Games saw him appear in five of the club’s seven matches, scoring a goal in a 4-0 drubbing of Atletico Ottawa and dedicating the goal to his daughter.
While he’s admitted to catching the coaching bug of late, he still wants to play for as long as he can.
Make no mistake, I have the same hunger, same motivation as when I was younger. When I was playing in Spain my teammates would be joking, ‘C’mon, you look like you’re 26 the way you run, the way you train every day and the motivation you have.’ That’s the most important thing: to show my teammates that I’m still hungry, still competitive, still getting mad in any training session when he doesn’t win. I think the team respects that.
Jose Galan
The midfielder’s storied carried has now seen him play for in Spain, Thailand, Indonesia, Austria, Jordan, Cyprus, Romania, Finland, Andorra, Hong Kong, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, but nowhere has he stayed with one club longer than Canada with Valour FC.
The Winnipeg-based club has now signed 19 players ahead of the 2021 Canadian Premier League season, with Galan filling the sixth of seven international roster slots following the mutual termination of Nestor Monge‘s contract due to visa difficulties.
The club is scheduled to kick off its preseason camp on May 17, a mere two days after the Canadian Premier League has promised to deliver an official communication regarding the schedule of the 2021 CPL season itself.
It still remains unclear if the upcoming season will need to happen in a bubble tournament, which the family man described as a difficult time when reflecting on the prior campaign. Given recent comments by Cavalry FC’s Sergio Camargo, it seems players are still fairly in the dark on how things will unfold:
The length and financial terms of Galan’s contract were not disclosed by the club, but it is believed to be a one-year deal.