Retired Spain legend, 42, in shock U-turn as he lands free transfer to LaLiga side eight months after quit announcement

SPANISH legend Joaquin has returned to LaLiga football just eight months after announcing his retirement.

The winger, 42, left boyhood club Real Betis at the end of last season, sticking to the decision he made in April to hang up his boots.

Joaquin has 528 LaLiga appearances for Real BetisGetty

He has won two Copa del Rey titles with the Spanish sideGetty

It brought the curtain down on a 24-year professional career which spanned 964 games for club and country.

Now Joaquin has returned to Betis for a third stint with the Spanish side – five months after his 42nd birthday.

The LaLiga outfit announced the news on social media on Thursday morning with a photo of him holding up a Betis shirt.

They also added: “OFFICIAL Joaquin signs with Real Betis until the end of the season .

“The legend returns! ”

Joaquin, who shares the record for most LaLiga appearances with Andoni Zubizarreta on 622, made his Betis debut in 2000.

He won the Copa del Rey in 2005, before leaving for Valencia where he claimed the trophy again in 2008.

Spells at Malaga and Fiorentina followed, before he returned to Betis in 2015.

And 17 years on from his first Copa del Rey triumph with the Seville-based club, he lifted it again in 2022.

He also earned 51 caps for Spain between 2002 and 2007, scoring four goals.

When he announced his retirement earlier this year, he said: “Life is a constant evolution. The secret is to be able to adapt to changes.

“Face every day like a challenge and put a bit of art in everything.

“The way is full of emotions, names and moments reverberate inside my head. That magical night last April when I fulfilled a dream of mine.

“Time flies, they say nothing is forever, but they’re wrong, don’t they know about art? It’s inspiration, emotion and transformation.

“For 23 years I’ve tried to make football an art and for it to be remembered from generation to generation, from classic to contemporary.

“Now it’s time to hang up my boots. My art. A window to eternity.”