Ex-Birmingham City and Aston Villa ace retired at 30 - He's now ridiculously rich | OneFootball

Jota's billionaire business may surprise Birmingham and Aston Villa supporters.

Football players are often heavily criticised for their vast wealth, but the affluent story of former Birmingham City and Aston Villa star Jota is one that arrived post his playing career.

The Spaniard began his career at Celta Vigo and found his way into England when Brentford signed him for €1.5 million in 2014. He was superb for the Bees, but he left Griffin Park for new pastures in the Second City as he joined Birmingham for a fee in excess of £6 million.

His time with the Blues wasn't particularly remarkable, and in 2017, he made the controversial move to Aston Villa to reunite with former manager Dean Smith.

Unfortunately, his career never exploded at Villa Park, and in 2020 he returned to Spain to sign for Deportivo Alavés. Just one season with El Glorioso followed and in October 2022 he announced his retirement from football after more than a year out of the game.

Jota admitted that he had "lost the ambition" for the beautiful game and chose to focus on business instead, a decision that has since proven to be a shrewd one.

Jota's multi-million business will surprise Birmingham and Aston Villa

Having retired from football, Jota was still looking to boost his finances and decided to take his focus to the agricultural industry.

Founding a company called Groinn from a previous start-up business, the Spaniard's firm develops technology to assist farmers with tasks such as watering crops and managing the challenges posed by extreme weather caused by climate change.

This has earned him a great deal of money and according to The Mirror, the company will be worth around £600 million by the end of 2025. Speaking to The Athletic, Jota further revealed that the company is now worth ten times what he invested and that he expects it to generate profit in excess of £1 billion.

The 33-year-old is looking to take this outside of Spain as well and admitted that he has been in dialogue with "big companies" in America about his technology.

So, while many may have criticised his decision to retire early in 2022, it’s clear that his choice is now looking increasingly vindicated, and he’s set to become far wealthier than most footballers could ever imagine.

Jota never lived up to Brentford hype at Birmingham or Villa

Looking at his footballing years, it was clear his love for the game was beginning to diminish towards the end of his career, with the attacking midfielder never able to show Bluesnoses and Villains the form he had displayed at Brentford.

Across two full seasons at the Bees, the Spaniard scored 23 goals and provided 11 assists in 78 appearances for the Bees.

This was the kind of return Birmingham had hoped for, and while his numbers at St Andrew’s were far from disastrous, they ultimately fell short of making the impact his transfer fee needed.

Moving to the Premier League with Villa in 2019-20, he just wasn't at the level needed for the top tier. In 16 appearances for Villa, he scored just one goal and in October 2020 had his contract terminated with the club.