I’ve won the Champions League more times than Lionel Messi, but now I don’t have a club and I’m only 30… things like that happen

A serial winner, a 38-cap international who has more Champions League titles to his name than Lionel Messi and is still in his prime.

Also… unemployed.

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The capable midfielder was once one of the most sought-after stars in Europe.

The 30-year-old Spanish star is one of the most decorated players in world football.

And yet he is without a club at the end of the January transfer window.

The man in question: former Real Madrid Maestro Isco.

Part of Valencia’s ’00s talent factory, Isco made his mark at Malaga before securing a big move to Real Madrid in 2013.

In nine years at the Bernabeu, the midfielder contributed over 100 goals in 353 games.

Isco won a staggering five Champions League crowns as well as three LaLiga titles before departing for Sevilla in 2022.

The 2012 Golden Boy was once on the radar of every Premier League ‘Big Six’ side.

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But interest waned in his later years at Los Blancos when Sevilla took a chance on him in August 2022.

After just four months and just 14 LaLiga games, his contract was terminated.

On the deadline, Isco was about to make a free transfer to Bundesliga high-flyer Union Berlin.

But the deal fell through when the club cryptically claimed: “We have our limits.”

Fabrizio Romano has meanwhile revealed that “the deal fell through because the financial terms of the deal changed following the medical tests”.

According to the Spanish expert Anton Meana, the late shock is a blessing in disguise for Union Berlin.

Meana brutally claimed: “I think Isco would have been a problem for Union.

“I don’t think Isco is up to this level of football, I don’t think he fits into the Bundesliga and even less Union Berlin.

“I think Union came out of this win from all the noise this has made on social media.”

As a result, Isco is currently unemployed.

He has been linked with a move to Turkey – the transfer window is open until February 8.

But now the man who was one of Spain’s brightest young talents faces the very real possibility of being dumped in the scrapyard.