Living a completely different life
The former Villa and Brentford player retired in 2022.
A former Aston Villa player who retired as a professional footballer at just 31 years old, now lives a very different life as a billionaire. Spanish midfielder Jota Peleteiro made just 16 appearances in two years at Villa Park between 2019 and 2021, scoring once.
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Prior to that, he had successful spells at Birmingham and Brentford, where he helped the latter reach the Championship play-offs in his first season in 2015.
He suffered a serious ankle injury in the 2015/16 season, but after a loan spell in Spain, he returned to Brentford and scored 12 goals in just 21 appearances in the Championship in 2016/17.
This led to a club-record transfer to Birmingham, where he played one season before switching to city rivals Aston Villa.
But his time at Villa was not a success – perhaps his most memorable moment was when he was headbutted by teammate Danny Drinkwater in training.
A whole new life after football
After a brief stay in Spain with Alavés, he turned down a lucrative offer from Saudi Arabia and instead announced his retirement in 2022, on the grounds that he had “lost his ambition” for professional football.
Now his life looks completely different.
He is the founder and CEO of GROINN, a sustainable agricultural technology company that, according to The Athletic last year, was on the verge of signing a deal with the Spanish government.
The company was estimated to be worth £600 million. Now they plan to expand into new markets, including Portugal and Northern Europe.
From the football field to billions
Towards the end of his career, Jota was encouraged to invest in Ramalloc Innovation, which later became part of GROINN to scale up the business.
In an interview with The Athletic, he said:
“The value of the company is now 10 times higher than what I invested. I have already received offers, but I know that they will not account for one percent of the value in three years. We are in negotiations with several governments around the world because they want our technology – we are industry leaders.
According to The Daily Mail, the company could reach a value of £2.9 billion by the end of the year – giving him a slightly higher income than what he earned as a footballer for Galicia’s representative team.
An impressive career change for a man who was once considered one of England’s biggest football flops!
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