The story of Cardiff City's modern-day cult hero and what happened next to 'El Pitbull'
GARY MEDEL
By Glen Williams
Wednesday 1st April 2020
Here, we take a look at one of Cardiff City's modern-day cult heroes, his time at the club and what happened next.
The background
Medel, whose mother named him Gary after the American actor Gary Cooper, rightly came with a lofty billing.
The combative midfielder's talents were spotted early on while playing for Universidad Catolica and he was handed his international debut with Chile against Argentina in 2007, aged just 19.
He moved on to become a success at Boca Juniors, deeming the move a 'dream' having been granted the opportunity to play alongside stars such as Juan Riquelme, Martin Palermo and Sebastian Battaglia, the latter he named as his idol.
He wasted little time in endearing himself to the fans there, either. Having signed in the summer of 2009, he scored both Boca goals in the 2-0 Superclasico win over bitter rivals River Plate that season.
Medel then moved to Spain in 2011, signing for La Liga outfit Sevilla on the same day as now Barcelona star Ivan Rakitic.
The Chilean was an ever-present in the Sevilla side for two seasons and earned more than his fair share of fans while at the Spanish club.
He impressed so much that Barcelona great Xavi, one of the greatest midfielders in the world at that time, called for club's chiefs to bring him to the Nou Camp that summer. That is just one marker of how highly thought of he was in Spain.
For Medel, however, his next move was to conquer the Premier League.
The move to Cardiff
The signing of Medel signalled real intent by Malky Mackay and the Bluebirds board.
Earlier in the summer, they had signed precocious striker Andreas Cornelius for a club-record £8m - click here to read just how that turned out - as well as Steven Caulker for a similar price, but City broke their record again just a few weeks later with the capture of Medel for £11m.
"We're delighted to have secured the services of Gary, a tenacious and intelligent international midfielder," Mackay said at the time.
"Having had two seasons of regular football in La Liga, with 60-odd international caps to his name and three appearances at a World Cup, his experience will be an invaluable asset to our squad.
"He's played in a number of Boca v River Plate derbies in Argentina - one of the world's biggest derby matches.
"I've no doubt that his background and pedigree will complement our midfield group in the Premier League."
Mackay went on record to say City were close to missing out signing the player, so fierce was the competition, but they finally learned that they got their man during the half-time break of Rio Ferdinand's Manchester United testimonial match against Sevilla on August 9, 2013.
Despite signing for a club in the Premier League, widely regarded as the top division in club football, Medel's ambitions were boundless.
Just days after securing the move to the Welsh capital club, the player told a Chilean radio station that Cardiff was just the next step in achieving his ultimate goal of playing Champions League football.
"It is a new challenge that I want to fulfil,” Medel told Chilean station Radio Cooperativa.
"It's going to be different. Football here is tougher, stronger, faster, a new challenge.
“I want to get to try to reach a larger team. I went step by step and got every part of my dream, now my goal is to qualify for the (World Cup) finals, which is what all Chile wants, and to try to play in the Champions League or other major leagues.”
The stories off the pitch
There were many reports circling around Medel as the British press attempted to get a firmer grip on who he actually was and the mystique which surrounded him.
His upbringing in Chile was rough. In fact, according to the Daily Mail, Medel, as a kid, had three guns pointed at his head while playing in one neighbourhood football match.
On his record there was an arrest for death threats he allegedly made outside a supermarket and another for allegedly shoving a female journalist.
There was even a quote in FourFourTwo which claimed Medel had said: "If it hadn't been for football, I would be stealing or trafficking drugs." Although he has since insisted that was a joke.
The midfielder was sent off 16 minutes into an Under-20s World Cup semi-final clash against Canada in 2007 and, after the match, he became embroiled in a violent confrontation with the police and Chile's players.
Canadian press later reported he was shot in the back by a police taser.
Following that incident, more controversy followed. He got into a fight on the pitch with a Universidad Catolica team-mate, received a six-game ban for spitting at an opponent and was arrested for crashing a car while under the influence.
In 2009, Medel flew through his car windscreen before a joke circulating around Twitter claimed the Grim Reaper was too scared to take him.
Rise to cult hero
He came with the reputation of a tough-tackling, no-nonsense midfielder - he was sent off three times in 31 appearances in his final season at Sevilla - and City fans were, of course, not disappointed.
While he operated in the middle of the park for Cardiff, he was plying his trade at the heart of defence for Chile, despite being just 5ft 6in, which goes a long way to proving how uncompromising a defender he really was.
While he proved a mighty asset in defence, which will doubtless get the fans onside, he proved a crucial cog in the midfield wheel in terms of retention of possession.
Early in the season, against Fulham, Medel had a 99 per cent pass completion rate and in the first South Wales derby of the season, the 1-0 win for the Bluebirds, the Chilean's metronome-like distribution saw him come away with a 96 per cent successful-pass rate.
“Gary has settled in really well," Mackay said in the November.
"He is someone who believes he should be playing at the top level which is what he is doing. He’s enjoying a new way of life and has adjusted well for somebody who has come from a completely different culture with only a sparse use of the language as well.
“In most matches so far we’ve seen someone who has been on the ball an awful lot, a player whose pass completion is a huge percentage compared to the average.
“He is someone who has made a real impact on our team. That’s why I signed him and why I kept trying to get him because at certain points we didn’t think we were going to succeed.
“At one stage we thought it was gone, but there was a stubbornness on my part to keep going until I actually saw him signing for somebody else.
“When we brought him in I was delighted and I remain delighted.
“Top players believe they should be involved and playing at the top level from the first day walk into a group and that is why they are top players.”
And it wasn't just the manager who was reaping the rewards from Medel's arrival, it was the Cardiff City players.
The late, great Peter Whittingham, a pass master himself, clearly learned an awful lot from having the Chilean alongside him week in, week out.
“I love playing alongside Gary," Whittingham said at the time. "He’s great for me.
“We both like to get on the ball – and we like to keep it for our team. I felt comfortable having him close to me during the win against Swansea – an absolute pleasure. He is pure gold.
“Gary and I train together every day. He just wants to get on the ball and pass.
“It’s probably a thankless job he does, sitting in front of the back four and breaking up play. His value to us is unbelievable. He keeps the game ticking over and calms things down.”
The Pitbull bit when it needed to
While his background as a reckless midfielder threatened to plague him before his move - he averaged a red card every 13.5 games before switching to the Welsh capital - he endeavoured to change tack.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, he said: "I have told myself to behave, to stop the trouble.
"I am very passionate and I am very loyal to my teams.
"The red cards and a lot of the incidents I have had — they are almost all because of my reaction and not my action. They are not for bad tackles. I have a big temper but as I am growing I am learning and trying to adapt, to react less, because I know I must. I am maturing.
"I will not change the aggression in my game. English football is great. In Spain, if you breathe you get a yellow card. Here it is more intense physically. I like to be intense, I love to win the tackles. I will not change that.
"People have the idea that the pitbull is a bad dog, but if you learn about it, you’ll see it can be aggressive, but it is loyal. It bites when it has to bite."
Medel insisted he was only vicious when he needed to be
He was arguably Cardiff's best player throughout that Premier League campaign of 2013/14. Mackay raved about him and so did the City fans.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over from Mackay mid-season and Medel was just as important in the Norwegian's regime.
Bluebirds fans took to him so well because he embodied everything a fan wants to see: Heart, determination, grit, steel, a never-say-die attitude and genuine footballing quality.
Despite City's poor form that season, Medel remained a firm fans' favourite.
Even after the Bluebirds' defeat by Manchester City in January, which left them rooted to the bottom of the table, the midfielder caught the train back to Cardiff with City supporters and even took a snap with one of them in the carriage.
He was a player who just got it. He got what the club meant to the city and its fans and took it all in his stride.
While Cardiff lost many games that season, 22, in fact, it is probably no coincidence they were defeated in all four league games from which Medel was absent.
City took the wooden spoon and lost their Premier League status, but they certainly gained a cult hero that year.
Gary Medel and Cardiff supporter George Webbery after the defeat by Manchester City (Image: Twitter @GeorgeWebbert12)
The exit
Despite Medel's, and Cardiff's, best efforts, the Bluebirds were relegated after just one season in the top flight.
It was inevitable that a number of clubs would come sniffing around for the midfielder, with much of the transfer interest coming from abroad, and there was a clause placed in his contract which meant he could leave if City dropped to the Championship.
There was a sense of inevitability when it came to Medel's sale, too, with Solskjaer saying at the end of the season: "Gary is a top, top player who deserves to be playing at a higher level than the Championship and he has proven that."
Just a month or so later, Medel said: "I remain a Cardiff player, but doors are open to play elsewhere and I hope that happens.
"Nothing has been said yet, but I am wanted in Italy and that is a good possibility."
Inter were deemed early favourites for his signature, despite other interest from the likes of Turkey's Galatasaray and La Liga outfit Valencia, and that indeed proved the case, with the Italian club announcing the deal exactly one year to the day after Ferdinand's testimonial match, in which Medel agreed to the Cardiff switch.
He had impressed for Chile during the World Cup in Brazil that year, helping them reach the second round before losing to the hosts on penalties.
The Bluebirds subsequently sold Medel for £10m, a fee which, at the time, was blasted by some, including former City striker and WalesOnline columnist Nathan Blake, for losing £1m.
"Mr Tan, being the businessman he is, [I'm] surprised that they got less than they paid," Blake said.
"You've got to get better negotiations, haven't you? It's as simple as that.
"If you negotiate and you're adamant that you're at least looking for £2m more than you paid for him or £3m more... whatever's happened between agent and managers and owners - how they've ended up at £10m after the World Cup, it's crazy."
Solskjaer later defended the £10m sale, saying: "When my chairman and owner are happy with what we get then I reckon we've got a fair price."
What happened next?
Inter was, of course, another step up in the footballing world and, truth told, most Cardiff fans were glad his talents recognised by seeing a real European giant come in for him.
He finally seemed to settle down in Milan. He married Spanish sports journalist Cristina Morales and they had their first child during his first season at Inter.
Roberto Mancini, then Inter boss, loved him. He played him non-stop, only goalkeeper Samir Handanovic racked up more minutes in Medel's first season at the club.
He won the Copa America that year with Chile and retained it the year after, again he was central to his country's efforts in both tournaments and was included in both 'Team of the Tournament' XIs.
Fans in Italy took to him just as City fans did in this corner of the world. The sort of player you want playing for you rather than against you.
While Inter are undoubtedly a huge club in the pantheon of European greats, Medel's time there coincided with arguably their most-barren run.
It was Medel's dream to play Champions League football, as he said shortly after his arrival at Cardiff City, but it would never realised with the San Siro club. He played two campaigns in the Europa League, however.
He would, however, play in Europe's premier club competition when he moved to Turkish club Besiktas in 2017.
Medel moved back to Italy last summer, swapping Besiktas for Bologna in Serie A.
A cult hero?
Absolutely. A bona fide, modern-day cult hero.
He has all the trademarks of a cult hero, in fact.
A player whose checkered past appeared to be reined in when he moved to Cardiff City, but never losing that bite or that edge.
The unsavoury incidents off the pitch which blighted his career up until his move to the Welsh capital made him a curious character to many, but thousands of Bluebirds fans fell in love with him.
A YouTube reel which is filled with red cards, hot-headed incidents and dugouts being busted up after he was shown a red card didn't seem to correlate with the measured, but fierce, competitor Cardiff fans enjoyed in that one season of 2013/14.
He has had his moments since, just last year he got Lionel Messi sent off after a headbutt incident in an international match, and that is how he will always play the game.
But for that one season in the Welsh capital, what a joy he was.
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