Premier League cult hero Fernando Llorente, 37, retires from football as he reveals he will play new sport
PREMIER LEAGUE cult hero Fernando Llorente has retired from football aged 37.
Now the World Cup winner will try his hand at a new sport as he swaps the pitch for the court.
Llorente has been without a club since leaving Spanish second-division side Eibar at the end of last season.
And the striker called time on his football career as he revealed he wants to stay active by playing padel, the racket sport rising in popularity, especially in Spain.
Llorente was asked on live TV: “Won’t we see you on the pitch again?”
But the striker replied: “No, no. Now I have everything clear.
“I continue to keep fit by playing padel.”
Llorente came through the ranks at Athletic Bilbao and spent eight successful years in the first team from 2005 to 2013 before joining Juventus on a free transfer.
In two seasons with the Old Lady, he won two Serie A titles, the Coppa Italia and reach the Champions League final.
He switched Turin for Sevilla in 2015, winning the Europa League, and then Swansea a year later, scoring 15 goals to help the Welsh club avoid relegation.
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Llorente signed for Tottenham in 2017 and was largely used as a back-up for Harry Kane.
However, he will always be remembered in North London for his controversial goal in the dramatic Champions League quarter-final against Manchester City in 2019.
Llorente bundled in from a corner and that proved to be the winner as Tottenham progressed on away goals after a 4-4 aggregate draw on their way to reaching the final where he picked up his second runner-up medal.
The Spaniard left Spurs at the end of that season and had stints with Napoli and Udinese back in Italy before returning to his homeland with Eibar.
He ended his club career with 203 goals in 676 appearances and added seven in 24 senior caps for La Roja, for whom he was part of the successful squads at the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012.