Mallorca midfielder Omar Mascarell is preparing to face his former club Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia, the team with which he made his top-flight debut under Jose Mourinho at the Santiago Bernabeu over a decade ago.
But it is another football club that he still credits with helping him to develop into the player that he is today, one who has won the cup in Germany with Eintracht Frankfurt and experienced the Champions League with Schalke. That club is Derby County.
It was there, as a youngster flung into the muck and nettles of the Championship, that Mascarell was forced to grow up quickly. And the football was the least of his problems. “I just remember it being dark at four o’clock in the afternoon,” he tells Sky Sports.
Mascarell chasing Chelsea’s Eden Hazard during his time at Derby County
“I am in Mallorca right now and it is 18 degrees and sunny in January but I am originally from the Canary Islands and the weather there is even better than here in Mallorca. So it was a big difference for me. I was very young, all alone and I did not speak any English.”
The signing of Mascarell on loan from Real Madrid caused quite a stir at Steve McClaren’s Derby back in 2014. It went well. They were level on points at the top of the table when he was injured in March but collapsed in his absence and finished eighth.
He still has fond memories. “I was lucky that I joined a very good club. They put me with a teacher from the first moment to learn English as quickly as possible. I also had very good team-mates who helped a lot.” One, in particular, stands out in Mascarell’s mind.
“Jeff Hendrick,” he says with a smile. “He was always there for me, even when I did not speak English. He took me to his home and tried to help me improve every day. Really, he is a great person. I remember him with a big heart. I am still in contact sometimes.”
Mascarell has fond memories of the support he received from Jeff Hendrick at Derby
He adds: “We played together in the middle and I learned a lot. I had been at Real Madrid where everything was with the ball, more tactical. When I arrived in England it was so physical. The ball would go one way and then the other, it was a lot faster.
“It had a big impact on me. I improved as a player and a person. I am always thinking that maybe one day I should go back there to revive the memories, you know. But, for sure, I grew up a lot that season and I was a better player when I went to Germany.”
Mascarell had many great moments in the Bundesliga, that 2018 cup final win over Bayern Munich chief among them. “That was great and my level was very high.” At Schalke, he was part of a 4-2 win at rivals Borussia Dortmund. “We had a great team.”
Mascarell celebrates a goal during Eintracht Frankfurt’s famous cup win over Bayern Munich
But this next chapter in Mallorca might be even more surprising. They qualified for the Spanish Super Cup by reaching last season’s cup final, losing out to Athletic Bilbao, but that run was no freak, it turns out. Mallorca are doing even better this time around.
Under new coach Jagoba Arrasate, who did such a good job at Osasuna, they are up to sixth in LaLiga this season, a big improvement on last season’s 15th-place finish. “It is a great season we are having. I think we are growing as a club,” explains Mascarell.
“Last season in the league was not good. We saved the season by reaching the final. But this season, right from the beginning, everything changed. We started to win games. I think the players, they feel free and the change [of coach] was good for everyone.
“He changed the system. Last season, we played always with five in defence. Right now, we are playing 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3. It is a little difference but it gives us more freedom and allows us to be a little bit more offensive. The season is long but we are positive.”
If the changes at Mallorca have been subtle, the transformation in Mascarell’s life and career has come at international level. The former Spain youth international is eligible to play for Equatorial Guinea through his grandfather. In June, he finally took that step.
“I was in contact with them for a long time. In recent years, I was thinking about whether to do it or not. I had a friend on the staff who told me it would be a great thing for me. I was 31 and decided it was now or never. It was one of the best decisions of my career.
“It has been a whole other experience for me, totally different to what I live every day here. For me, it is very important as a person to be in Africa, seeing how people live there. It is special. It took me a long time to decide but I thank God that I said yes.”
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Highlights of the Sky Bet Championship match between Bristol City and Derby County
Mascarell has already been rewarded with a magical moment as Equatorial Guinea confirmed their place in the Africa Cup of Nations that will take place in Morocco in December. “I saw the kids and how happy they are, it is everything to them,” he says.
“When I was out there and we had the celebrations and when you see just one country united, the happiness that is there, we were like heroes. It was amazing. We will be in Morocco, so we are very happy about that. I think we can do something good there.”
Before that, there is the chance to make a little bit more history with Mallorca. To lift the trophy, they must defeat the winner of Barcelona and Athletic in the final. But first there is the challenge of eliminating the European champions Real Madrid in the semi-final.
“We cannot wait,” says Mascarell. “We are playing against Real Madrid, one of the biggest clubs in the world. We know that it is difficult but it is a big opportunity for us, a big chance for us to play for a trophy. And we know we do have our chance to win.”
Mallorca drew with Madrid in LaLiga in August so there is hope. “We had a great game then. For sure, we have a chance. They have great players but if they want to beat us they will have to play well because we are going to fight and give it everything,” he adds.
“I do not know if we will win or not but we are like a family. We are together.” A Spanish-born Equatorial Guinea international, playing for a club from the Balearic Islands in Saudi Arabia, drawing once more on his experiences as a youngster at Derby County.
