Former Aston Villa flop who retired at 31 is now a billionaire and living a very different life

A former Aston Villa midfielder who retired from professional football at the age of 31 is now living a totally different life as a billionaire.

Spanish midfielder Jota made just 16 appearances in a two-year spell at Villa Park between 2019 and 2021, scoring once.

Prior to that, he had successful spells with Birmingham and Brentford, helping the latter reach the Championship play-offs in his first season in 2015.

He suffered a serious ankle ligament injury during the 2015/16 season but, after a loan spell in Spain, returned to Brentford and netted 12 Championship goals in just 21 appearances in 2016/17.

That prompted a club-record move to Birmingham, where he spent a further season before making the switch to the club's fierce rivals.

But his time at Villa was not a success, with his most notable moment perhaps being headbutted by team-mate Danny Drinkwater during a training session.

He was released from his contract by mutual consent early in the 2020/21 season

He spent the remainder of the campaign back in Spain with Alaves, before turning down a big-money move to Saudi Arabia the following summer.

Jota then announced his retirement in 2022, stating he had 'lost the ambition' to play professional football.

Now, his life looks much different.

He is the founder and CEO of GROINN, an sustainable agricultural technology firm that was on the verge of signing a contract with the Spanish government last year.

The Athletic reported that the company was projected to be worth £600 million in 2025, and it is keen to expand into new markets including Portugal and northern Europe.

At the end of his playing career, Jota was encouraged to make an investment into Ramalloc Innovation, which later became part of GROINN in an attempt to upscale its operation.

He told The Athletic in January 2024: "The value of the company is now worth 10 times more than the money I invested.

"I am already taking offers, but I know they won't even be one per cent of its value in three years. We are in negotiations with a lot of governments around the world because they want the technology, and we are industry leaders."

The Daily Mail report that the business could skyrocket in value to £2.9 billion by the time the year is out, making it a slightly higher salary than what Jota - an international footballer with the Galicia representative team - earned during his football career...