With Monterrey, Sergio Canales is getting another fresh start after years in Spain (2024)

When 33-year-old Sergio Canales lines up for Monterrey against Inter Miami’s quartet of ex-Barcelona icons on Wednesday, he will do so as the most expensive signing in Mexican football history.

There were several junctures when imagining glamour at this stage of his career seemed fanciful, if not impossible. None more so than on Dec. 30, 2015, when he was stretchered off the Bernabeu pitch — the place his career had been predicted to ignite as a teenager but where he only lasted a single season playing for Real Madrid. Then with Real Sociedad, he had just suffered the third ACL injury of his career.

On that day his own family could not envision him playing again. Canales could, though, and nine years later he is hoping to play an integral part in overcoming Lionel Messi and company in the quarterfinal of the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

“My family was at the game (Real Madrid vs. Canales’ Real Sociedad) and they came down to the dressing room at half-time,” Canales tells The Athletic. “My uncles were crying, my wife called me crying. My brothers, my friends, everyone was devastated. I think they all thought that my career would end. I had overcome it before (in 2011 and 2012) but had fallen through another crack.

“That day I told myself: ‘My career is not going to finish here.'”

Canales began to research how to recover from such major setbacks. He started counselling and was put in touch with a sports psychologist, who worked with him on setting short- and long-term goals.

“The recovery after that third injury was really bad,” says Canales. “I remember the doctor told me that he wasn’t sure if I’d be able to compete fully again. So I had to believe again. I became very stubborn.

“Together, with my psychologist, we established a goal to be called up to the Spanish national team. It was odd that I couldn’t even run and other people suggested that I retire but I was thinking about the national team.”

In March 2019, aged 29, the vision finally came true. Canales made his debut for Spain against Norway, the first of 11 caps which saw him score against the Netherlands and form part of the squad that won the Nations League final against Croatia last year.

“Looking back, I wasn’t afraid even though it was a complicated objective and the talent level at my position on the Spanish national team is one of the best in the world.

“It’s been eight years of weekly sessions with the psychologist. It has allowed me to make a big jump in terms of my own maturity. You have to establish realistic objectives that you believe in and you cannot fear failure.

“I’ve always told myself: ‘I have my goals. I’m going to give my life for this and I know that I’m going to do it. I’m not afraid to fail.’

“You have to train yourself to think that way every single day. It’s not easy and it’s not just about telling yourself ‘I believe in me’. Otherwise we’d all be able to do this. It’s an invisible training exercise that’s undervalued but it truly matters.”

As a teenager Canales won both the Under-17 and Under-21 European Championships with Spain, and after 39 appearances for his local club Racing Santander he was signed by Real Madrid in 2010, a week before his 19th birthday, for a fee of €4.5m.

He went on to play for Valencia, Real Sociedad and Real Betis, amassing 375 La Liga appearances, even winning a place in the 2018-19 team of the season and collecting a Copa del Rey winners medal with Betis in 2021-2022.

Last summer Monterrey paid around €10 million for Canales, which was the highest transfer fee in Liga MX history.

“At Real Betis, which was the most important club of my career, the pressure came from needing to qualify for the Champions League, winning the Copa (Del Rey), qualifying for Europa League. It means that you know you’re going to lose games because you’re not playing for a club that’s built to be the league champion.

“Now at Monterrey, there’s a feeling that you’re obligated to win every match. That’s the expectation, so you have to prepare differently because of the short tournament structure. More than pressure, I’m just really motivated by the expectations and by the pressure that I’ve always placed on myself.”

Monterrey are five-time winners of the Champions Cup (previously the CONCACAF Champions League) with their last triumph coming in 2021 when they defeated fellow Mexican side Club America.

Coming up against an MLS side coached by Gerardo “Tata” Martino is a different proposition to the domestic play in Mexico.

“It’s a totally different game here in Mexico to what I’m used to. It’s not better or worse though. Every league is it’s own world,” says Canales. “Here, you have be very physically fit. It’s transition football, there are a lot of attacks and the pitches really get stretched. There’s more space in between the lines. I’ve always been a player who runs a lot of kilometers per match but I’ve increased that metric since arriving in Mexico.

“I’m working with a technical staff that approaches the game differently than what is typical in Liga MX. It’s what I’m used to: maintaining possession, playing direct and not rushing our decisions. We use the ball to control the match.”

Monterrey beat Guatemalan club Comunicaciones and MLS side FC Cincinnati in the previous two rounds of the Champions Cup, and go into the home tie against Inter Miami with a 2-1 lead from the first leg in which they dominated possession and outshot a Messi-less, 10-man Miami side 20-8.

Canales has shared a pitch with Messi for a combined total of 988 minutes in his career, winning three times against him in 21 meetings.

“It’s great as I wasn’t expecting to face him again while I was here,” he says.

“We could’ve met in last year’s Leagues Cup but we were eliminated before the final. And now, on the one hand, I’m happy for the city of Monterrey and for this club because it’s an important moment when players like Messi — the best of all time — (Sergio) Busquets, (Luis) Suarez and (Jordi) Alba visit as I’d put them in the top three, top four all time in their respective positions.

“It’s going to be a very demanding match. I’ve been following them from here and they’re very motivated to win. Players like that are unforgiving and they’re still playing at a very high level.”

Canales is hoping to add the Mexican Clausura and the Champions Cup to his collection during his three-year deal at Monterrey and is determined to immerse himself in a new culture during his first spell away from his homeland.

“There is a lot of unfamiliarity about what Mexico is like. It’s a country whose negative headlines reach the rest of the world but Monterrey is a fantastic city and the people have been great to us,” says Canales.

“I had only played in Spain. I was in my comfort zone. There hasn’t been a language barrier for me in Mexico, obviously, but there are different ways to see the game and life in general. Now I’m the only European at the club. I’ve had to adapt to that but it’s been a beautiful challenge for me.

“I’m very proud of all of that and how I still approach the game today. I want to give 100 percent effort up until my last day as a player.”

(Photo: Rich Storry/Getty Images)