The player who was to be a Liverpool star, but now sells tobacco to survive

He arrived at Liverpool with the tag of being a future star, having been expressly requested by Spanish manager Rafael Benítez when he was 18 in 2007, but now Francis Durán only recalls those moments with nostalgia as he tends a tobacco shop with which he survives with his wife.

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An interview with the Relay tells the story of this former player who was tipped to be the next star at Anfield, but who now, at 35 years of age and nine years after hanging up his boots due to injury, takes turns in his working day with his wife to look after their daughter, who has now entered nursery school.

"I bought a tobacconist's licence and I sell tobacco and work in the shop. I have never tried tobacco in my life, but business is one thing and my personal life is another. With the little money I made in my professional years I made some real estate investments and some people recommended tobacconists as a business.

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His signing for Liverpool was announced on the same day as Álvaro Arbeloa's signing. The change of life was already a reality: "Liverpool's offer was not so different from what Málaga offered me when they reacted. I signed for a year and a half plus three options that were activated as soon as I had played very few games... and there was a big financial leap," he recalls of that first contract. "But I got injured in the second game, so I never signed the three options. Francis kept renewing his original contract, yes, but never the optionals.