Valencia captain Jose Gaya showed his commitment to the relegation-threatened side by playing through a painful finger dislocation.
The 22-time Spain international went down in the 35th minute of a LaLiga clash with Girona and didn’t seem to realise what he’d done.
Jumping up from the tangle with Ivan Martin, teammate and Aston Villa loanee Enzo Barrenechea noticed something was up with Gaya and called on the medical team.
Images then showed the middle finger of his left hand at a complete right angle and quickly going pale.
Doctors ran on to help, and snapped the finger back into place before taking him off the pitch and adding some medical tape.
Rather impressively, the 29-year-old lasted through until half-time, and then emerged for the second period to finish the full 90 minutes.
Gaya played his part in Diego Lopez’s opener, before former Middlesbrough man Cristhian Stuani extended his incredible LaLiga record for goals as a substitute by netting his 32nd off the bench.
The match ended 1-1, securing a point for Valencia who are just one away from the bottom three.
Gaya has had opportunities to leave his boyhood club in the past as he rose up the ranks with Spain, but has stayed there his whole career and is trying to get them through a horror period.
The six-time LaLiga winners and former Champions League regulars could well exit the league for the first time since 1987.
Supporters have laid the blame at owner Peter Lim, and regularly protest his investment by various means.
The Singaporean billionaire has been with the club since 2014 and only decreased in popularity.
DAZNBarrenechea called the medics on[/caption]
The team were eighth in UEFA’s club rankings a decade ago but are now out of the 427 clubs included today.
A former investor in Salford who hired colleague Gary Neville for a disastrous coaching spell in 2015, Lim recently announced that his son will become the club’s new president.
However, fans want the ownership gone completely, as showcased during a public shareholders meeting in December when executives walked out in response to angry chants.
A recent report from MARCA claimed the club have debts of €128million [£108m], showing just how vital it is that players like Gaya stick around for the fight.
Legendary club goalkeeper Santi Canizares recently attacked Lim, telling MARCA: “Peter Lim is incapable and arrogant. He has spent five years without giving any explanations, without coming to Valencia, he has zero empathy.
“Valencia has already lost its status and now we will see if it can stay in the first division. What we have had here is terrible management.
“All this is supported by guys like [LaLiga president Javier] Tebas, who support Peter Lim and who, despite the decline of recent years, think it is healthy for Peter Lim to continue here, politicians who have given him the freedom to build the stadium, who fail to comply with the conditions and the banks that have granted him two other loans. Politicians and banks have bowed down to Peter Lim.
“Maybe selling is not the solution because the next player may also be disastrous, although doing worse is almost impossible.
“The only thing that has hurt Peter Lim is when the news reaches Singapore. What happens here doesn’t matter to him.
“It makes me angry that he has to lose the team for us to realise how we manage it. The problem and the sickness is there and it has spread tremendously.
“It is urgent that the authorities and the president of LaLiga put pressure on him to leave.
“I have been denouncing this situation since the club was put up for sale and it has been hard for me because I was seen as anti-Valencia, I bit the hand that fed me… Valencia continues to fall freely and as long as this guy is here and the sickness does not settle down, the club has no rock bottom.”
