I cost Birmingham City £6m then crossed to Aston Villa - now I run an AgTech company | OneFootball

Jota was brave enough to cross the Second City divide seven years ago and is now worth billions

Birmingham City's rivalry with Aston Villa is one of the fiercest in English football, and only a select few players have crossed the divide from St. Andrew's @ Knighthead Park to Villa Park in recent times.

The Second City derby may not have been played out between Blues and Villa since March 2019 in any competition, but it is ,unsurprisingly, celebrated for many years by either fanbase if a player crosses the city and becomes a cult hero in B9 or B6 afterwards.

Villa and Birmingham certainly have their own short and long-term ambitions to focus on above all else, with the latter hoping to return to the Premier League themselves in the coming years under Knighthead's ownership, and whilst supporters certainly don't see eye to eye on many things, they were both left underwhelmed by the performances of Spanish winger, Jota.

However, in the current world, it is fair to say that the former winger has put his West Midlands struggles behind him to make a fortune in a new career path which not many would have seen coming just a few short years ago.

Jota excelled in the Championship for Brentford before Birmingham City switch

Action Images

After coming through the Celta Vigo ranks, the 35-year-old's first exposure to the English game came at Brentford, where he was signed for a €1.5m fee after the club's promotion from League One in 2014.

It was a fine first season in the Championship for Jota, as his 11 goals in 42 appearances helped the Bees reach the play-offs before they lost to Middlesbrough at the semi-final stage.

Despite a mixed 2015/16 campaign, which included a period on the sidelines and a loan spell with former side, Eibar, the winger reminded everyone of his qualities in the second half of the 2016/17 campaign at Griffin Park, netting 12 goals in just 21 outings, which, in turn, triggered a contract extension.

Jota failed to justify his club-record Birmingham City fee

Action Images

Given his stellar form in the previous months, Jota was not short of offers, but Blues were able to swoop ahead of Hull City and Middlesbrough for his services in a then-club-record £6m move.

The attacker joined Harlee Dean and Maxime Colin in moves from West London to the West Midlands under Harry Redknapp, with the former later revealing that his conversations with the ex-Birmingham boss influenced the move.

In what was a chaotic period for the club, as they eventually lost £37.5m at the end of the 2017/18 season, Jota scored five times and produced as many assists in 36 appearances as Birmingham survived relegation on the final day of the campaign, having seen Steve Cotterill and Garry Monk installed in the dugout that particular season following Redknapp's initial departure.

Jota then bettered his overall tally in the 2018/19 campaign as he racked up three goals and nine assists, but many were still underwhelmed by his total of just 19 goal contributions in 75 appearances.

Jota's downward spiral continued after Birmingham City, Aston Villa switch

Action Images

During his time in charge of Brentford, Dean Smith once described Jota as a "special lad," which was no surprise given his technical ability.

Despite flattering to deceive at St. Andrew's, he then became Smith's first signing of the 2019/20 summer window after Villa achieved promotion back to the Premier League by defeating Derby County at Wembley Stadium, with Gary Gardner sealing a permanent move in the opposite direction as a result.

Although he started the first five games of the season, which included an assist against Everton and his only goal for the club in the EFL Cup against Brighton and Hove Albion in September 2019, Jota's downward spiral continued as he made just 16 appearances in B6 before terminating his contract and having a brief spell with Deportivo Alaves.

Jota is now worth billions despite mixed career in English football

Action Images

Those days are now clearly behind Jota, who has since enjoyed great success in the world of agriculture after being the driving force behind Groinn.

The firm specialises in providing aid to farmers, which even began entering a partnership with the Spanish government in 2024, and by the turn of 2026, was projected to have been worth over £3bn.

With Groinn's technology also used in nations such as Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands and Portugal as well as his homeland, it's no wonder that the former winger has been taken aback by its rapid rise in the world of farming.

“The speed at which we are moving sometimes doesn’t even allow us to fully grasp everything we’re achieving," he once told the Daily Mail.