Celta de Vigo has officially announced that club legend Iago Aspas, the 38-year-old player with the record of most matches played with the Galician club (over 500) and goals scored (over 200) has extended his contract until 2029. However, it is a very unusual contract, as Aspas will only play one more year for the club: at the end of the 2026/27 season, he will retire from football, but will remain hired by the team, on an undisclosed role within the club's structure.
"That boy from Moaña who dreamed of scoring a beautiful goal with Celta in the senior team ended up becoming the soul of an entire fan base", said the club in a official statement. "The homegrown player that transformed the impossible into routine, the one who never stopped believing and the one who made an entire generation grow up feeling proud to be a Celta fan."
"It's not that Iago Aspas is the best player in Celta's history. It's that Iago Aspas is Celta. A player who marked an era, who built an identity."
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Iago Aspas had a brief stint at Liverpool, but is a legend in Vigo
After playing in youth and B teams, Aspas made his debut for his local club in 2008, and in 2013 he signed for Liverpool, although he struggled to adapt and played sporadically as a substitute to Coutinho, Sterling, or Luis Suárez in a season where the striker only scored one official goal in the FA Cup and the team ended second in the Premier League.
Liverpool loaned him to Sevilla the following season, where he won the UEFA Europa League. Liverpool sold him to Sevilla in June 2015 and then Sevilla sold him back to Celta, where he has remained ever since, winning frequently the award for top Spanish goalscorer in LaLiga. Now, Celta is sixth in LaLiga, and is one point away in the final matchday to secure a consecutive qualification for Europa League next season.