:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/61231671/456553281.jpg.0.jpg)
It’s been widely reported how former Southampton striker Dani Osvaldo jacked in football two years ago to give being a rock star a go aged 30.
Osvaldo, who we rated the worst Saints record transfer signing since 2001, was signed for £15m from AS Roma in 2013, scoring three goals in 13 appearances under Mauricio Pochettino.
The ex-Italy international’s time in Southampton’s first team was cut short after infamously headbutting then-captain Jose Fonte in training.
Loan moves to Juventus, Inter Milan and Boca Juniors followed. At Internazionale, Osvaldo was suspended by the club for being absent from training without reason and after at his time on loan at Boca, Saints terminated his contract.
A move to Porto and a return to Boca followed, but Osvaldo had his contracted terminated once again while at Boca, following an argument with manager Guillermo Barros Schelotto after getting caught smoking in the club changing room.
Osvaldo retired from football altogether after his brief second stint at Boca aged 30 to focus on his music career instead.
READ: Stuart Armstrong has no regrets over quitting Celtic for Southampton
READ: Ranked: Southampton’s WORST record transfer signings since 2001
Italian club Chievo tried to sign Osvaldo on a free in the last days of the 2016 summer transfer window, but he was steadfast in his stance of not returning to football in favour of living his dream as a rock star in his band Barrio Viejo.
Two years later, Osvaldo has broken his silence over the decision to quit football altogether during his peak years as he played with Barrio Viejo in Barcelona.
“I was 30 years old when I quit football,” Osvaldo told The Sun’s Adrian Addison.
“People just don’t understand it, you know, they look at me like ‘you’re crazy. You had everything. You played in some of the best teams in the world and you decided just to quit to do this? You’re nuts’. People don’t understand. But it’s my passion.
“There are so many many rules in football. So so many rules. And I’m not good with the rules. I like to be free.
“I am proud of my career and I owe everything to football. But in football you have to live a life that’s not real.
“You have a price, a value. It’s crazy. If you’re good you’re worth 50 million and if you’re not good you’re worth nothing.
“The only thing that matters about you is Daniel Osvaldo the football player. I didn’t like that. I’m a sensitive person. I was tired. I was going crazy and I decided to live the musician’s life instead.
“I left football and I don’t feel heavy any more. I feel free and relaxed. I’m so happy now.”
Osvaldo chased happiness with his music and seems to have found it. While his time at Southampton was both brief and tumultuous, it’s good to see Osvaldo in seemingly in good spirits these days.