Víctor Chust, from Valdebebas to Cádiz… And the hell of an injury: "I told myself 'I can't continue like this, it's mentally eating you up'"

In August 2020, Víctor Chust (Valencia, 2000) raised with his hands the first Youth Champions League in the history of Real Madrid. The captain led one of the best generations that have passed through Valdebebas, guided from the bench by Raúl González, and three years later he fights in Cádiz to find his place in the First Division. Like him, the majority of that locker room: Miguel Gutiérrez, Arribas, Marvin, Blanco, Dotor…. Today, after months away from the pitch due to a tear in the right rectus femoris, he will face the white team, with whom he managed to make his debut under the guidance of Zidane. Before chat with EL MUNDO.

In the last year he has only been able to play 4 league games due to the injury.. The one against Getafe, on November 6, was the first in 7 months. How complicated has this stage been? A lot. Very complicated since I broke it for the first time (in November 2022). 190 days passed from my last game in April until the return against Getafe and the truth is that it was hard. In May I decided to undergo surgery and I think I did the right thing, now I have been able to return and I think I am at a good level.. I lack physical fitness but that is gained through matches. Very happy. After being out for four months, you come back and get injured again. At what point do you say, 'Hey, I can't take it anymore, I have to stop'? Since Sergio arrived (January 2022) I started to have pubalgia in the pubis that came from the problems in the rectus femoris. In the end it loaded that area more. In the first break I was positive, but in the second game I broke again. I said to myself: “I can't go on like this.” I went to Barcelona, visited Dr. Cugat and we decided that I was going to have surgery. How did you manage it mentally? Playing with pain, the pressure of being in the First Division and needing minutes…I thought that my body was going to withstand everything and that in the summer I would be able to recover. It came from the pubic issue that he had not been able to be at 100% and he wanted to show people the player he was, that the player that Cádiz had paid for was still there.. But I realized that the body had told me “enough” and that I had to stop. Are you now physically and mentally clean, or do you have pressure? I am clean from those ghosts of the past. Yes, it is true that after so much injury it is a bit difficult to want to return to the way I was before the operation, but I am feeling better and the coaching staff is giving me a lot of confidence.. But it is true that I have that buzz in my head of wanting to return. What was going through your head when you couldn't play? It's very hard. Seeing your teammates enjoying themselves and seeing yourself locked up in a gym, being able to do few things, going to check-ups while the team plays, suffering…. You suffer more outside than inside and mentally that eats you up.. People from the outside think that being injured is just not doing what you like, but it goes much further than that and mentally it wears you down.. But well, I'm left with the fact that I have always tried to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Have you worked on the mental part with professionals? I have been offered to work with a psychologist at some point and I know that several colleagues are interested, but today I think that I haven't had the need. I think that a psychologist always helps and if one day I notice that I have that need I will do it, but I am more of a person who wants to put in the work.. I am more of my problems trying to solve them myself, as long as I don't need more help. What was your feeling when you came back? Well, at first I wasn't going to start, but Jorge Meré was injured and it was my turn.. My adrenaline was through the roof.. I was tired of the Cup match after so long without competing, but I was excited and eager to show that I am still the same as before.. In the first minutes I was out of breath, but with the enthusiasm of a child. Tell me about Cádiz, do you notice more or less pressure? The people are Cádiz to death and they always make everything easy for you. Always with positive messages. But obviously the pressure is on all sides, if you or the team are not at your level during some games they will surely remind you, but naturally. You have to endure it and know how to listen. He went from winning almost all the games in Madrid's lower categories to a suffering club. How did you experience that? We all know where we are, that we have to row in the same direction. It is true that I came from a stage in my life in which I won almost everything and it changes your mentality, but in the end also in Madrid they teach you to put your feet on the ground, that winning is very difficult. When I arrived in Cádiz I knew where I was going and that it was going to be complicated. Which coach has been the most important in your career? Difficult question.. I have had many and very large. Raúl, Cervera, Sergio, Álvaro Benito, debut with Zidane, tuve a Ancelotti… I have had a master's degree and from everyone I have learned things that have made me where I am now. How do you remember the years with Raúl and that Youth Champions League? That generation is gradually making its way into the First Division in other clubs far from Madrid. A very nice year in the Champions League. An incredible generation, many of whom are already in First Division. Winning that Youth League was amazing. Raúl puts hunger and sacrifice into you, because the talent already exists, it makes you not settle.. And this whole process shows that we reach First Division little by little.. There are exceptions like Yamal, Gavi or Bellingham who are very young megacracks, but the process is different and that is how almost all young people come out. With the debut of several Barcelona youth players a certain debate has been generated. The Madrid quarry is the one that contributes the most players to the big leagues. What is missing for one to knock down the door of the first team? I wish I had stayed, of course, but I think that in the end Madrid has to have, by obligation, the best players. It is a very, very competitive world and even if you have been in the youth academy for ten years you have to prove. Barça brings out very good youth players, for example, but Madrid has the best. I was lucky enough to make my debut, and so were other teammates, but there are a host of circumstances that make everything more complicated.. You have to arrive at the right time, when they need someone in your position or with your characteristics…. It is a competition with the best in the world. The rumors about Raúl and the future of the Madrid bench do not stop. I can't help there much (laughs). I follow Castilla because I have a good relationship with everyone and the only thing I know is that Raúl is an exceptional coach, who works very hard and helps all the players grow and become better players and people.. I read that your favorite number is '5'.Yes. I was born on March 5 and since I was little I always try to have a t-shirt with the '5' or with combinations that add or subtract '5'. How? (Laughs). Yes, yes… For example, now I wear '32'. 3+2. I always try to make some tricks to achieve it. Is he this superstitious only with football or also in life? Before I was more so, now the nonsense has gone away a little, but I do try to keep the '5' in mind in some way in my life, now Whether it's my shirt number, a tattoo… The '5' in my family has a lot of weight because my brother was born on the 15th. And so we go (laughs). Tell an anecdote with the '5'. As a child I had 1,000 stories. For example, the microwave. When I heated milk, I always had to stop the counter when there were 5 seconds left. I thought that by doing that everything would go well for me, the games and everything. Did your idol also have the '5'? No, no. My idol has always been Xabi Alonso, who I have always liked both on and off the field. And then Sergio Ramos, who did not wear the '5', wore the '4', but I was lucky enough to share training sessions with him and he is top. He has always been my idol in the position. His brother Mark plays in the Valencia youth team. What advice do you give him? I try to watch his games little because that's the only person I get nervous with. My heart is in my fist when he plays. I would tell him to keep working, that the world of football is very competitive and to also study. In the end, football is a toss-up that can go well or badly and you have to work on your studies too. Regarding Valencia, he left their youth team at the age of 12 and I have heard him say “they kicked me out.” In time, don't you feel sorry for it? What happened? The situation was as I told it. Due to circumstances that involved more people, they decided to terminate with me and I had to find another way. The world doesn't end there. Madrid called me and I decided to leave. Yes, it is true that I have that shame because in the end my friends and my family are from there, I have always said that I would like to return one day. I don't know when, because football is capricious and it is not known if I will have the opportunity, but I would like to close that cycle.